Climate and Energy Benchmark

2023 Electric Utilities Benchmark

Measuring the 68 most influential electric utilities and 11 capital goods companies on their progress to 1.5°C

The World Benchmarking Alliance Climate and Energy Benchmark measured 68 of the world’s most influential electric utilities companies on their alignment to a low-carbon world.  

The 2023 benchmark is the third iteration since its initial launch in 2020 and will assess how the sector has been performing over the last 3 years. This year the assessment will combine the ACT (Assessing low Carbon Transition) Electric Utilities methodology and WBA social and just transition indicators. This approach provides a holistic assessment of companies’ efforts to achieve a low-carbon transition that is just and equitable. 

The success of decarbonisation in electric utilities and the entire sector is intricately linked to a comprehensive supply chain, encompassing the manufacturing of renewable generation technologies and power grid solutions. Consequently, to capture a first snapshot of the sectoral value chain, this year’s benchmark includes a limited selection of capital goods companies specialising in renewable manufacturing and integrated companies providing grid solutions. 

Five key findings

The 2023 Electric Utilities Benchmark reveals valuable insights about the performance of 68 companies in the sector. Current trends in renewable generation from evaluated companies suggest that solar growth is on track to surpass Net Zero Emissions targets by 2030, though wind may fall slightly short. To sustain the momentum seen in renewable energy generation, it is crucial to accompany it with explicit planning commitments. This includes establishing dates for phasing out coal and gas, as well as divesting from fossil fuels given that the average proportion of low-carbon capital expenditure is currently only half of what is required for a thorough transition. Additionally, the lack of company focus on flexibility-enhancing actions of energy storage and promoting demand response, raises concerns about the energy sector’s overall preparedness for the 21st-century grid requirements.

To make the transition just is imperative for the low-carbon transition to be successful. This sector shows that all parts of a just transition are possible, with this being the only sector where good practice happens on every single indicator. However, companies still need to take further steps to ensure that the transition is truly just. In particular, companies should move beyond high level commitments to respecting workers and their jobs in the energy transition, to showing how they aim to do so, and that they understand what impact their low carbon transition will have on jobs and workers.

Key finding

Wind and solar power advances signal the beginning of the transition from fossil fuel dominance

Between 2017 and 2022, wind and solar energy's combined share in the energy mix nearly doubled, reaching 7%. During the same period, coal and gas generation remained stable, with shares of 44% and 22% respectively. Projections indicate that solar generation is on track to grow sevenfold by 2030, surpassing the growth target outlined in the International Energy Agency's Net Zero Emissions (NZE). However, wind generation is expected to increase 2.4 times by 2030, falling slightly short of the 3.3-fold increase needed to meet the NZE goals. These trends highlight a positive shift towards renewable energy sources but also indicate the challenges in meeting ambitious targets for certain sectors within the renewable landscape.

Key finding

Despite plans to transition, current commitments and investment are falling short of the ambition needed

The corporate landscape exhibits a stark deficit in ambitious climate commitments, with merely nine companies aligning their net-zero targets as per IEA requirements and only 10 setting short-term goals in line with the 1.5°C pathways. Troublingly, just 43% of companies relying on coal generation have committed to a definite phase-out date, and a mere 13% aim to achieve this critical transition before 2030. A broader concern arises from the average proportion of low-carbon capital expenditure – dedicated to solutions such as renewable electricity generation, battery storage, carbon capture and storage to decarbonise fossils-based electricity generation, which falls significantly below the necessary threshold, reaching only half of what is required to effectively fund a comprehensive low-carbon transition.

Key finding

The rise of renewables may be hindered unless energy storage and demand response grows to match it

The evolution of business models to facilitate a seamless transition and boost grid flexibility is lagging behind the expected surge in clean energy production. A mere 31% of companies are actively constructing storage capacity and revealing plans for its expansion, a figure deemed inadequate to align battery storage capacity with the goals of the Net Zero Emissions (NZE) initiative. Additionally, there is a scarcity of companies proactively investing in initiatives focused on shaping demand patterns and fortifying the resilience of electricity supply. This deficiency in strategic efforts raises concerns about the overall preparedness of the energy sector in adapting to the requirements of 21st century grid.

Key finding

The electric utilities sector shows that all fundamentals of a just transition are possible, yet companies still have more steps to take

The electric utilities sector shows that all parts of a just transition are possible, that each just transition sub-indicator can be met, with real world good practice happening across the whole industry. However, no individual company has brought all pieces of a just transition together, as the best performing company (SSE) only scores 12.5 points out of 20 available, and the average (mean) score is just 2.8 out of 20. Furthermore, the methodology only spells out the most fundamental parts of a just transition, and these parts should all be adapted and expanded upon to fit the context that companies operate in, to meet the needs of the stakeholders that are relevant there.

Key finding

Companies need to bring their workers along to make it a just transition

Companies in the electric utilities sector show that they have high level commitments to jobs and workers as part of the low carbon transition. 33% are committed to create new green and decent jobs and 36% are committed to re-skill their existing workers to make sure they have the skills needed as business decarbonises. Commitments like these are important, but companies also need to show that they understand the path there and how it fits with their plans to decarbonise their business. Currently, only one company discloses its process for identifying the skills gaps that may emerge in the low carbon transition. Similarly, only one company assesses and discloses the risk of employment dislocation caused by the low carbon transition, which refers to the impact that their changing business may have on their current workers where they may become redundant as a result of the low carbon transition.

Find out the performance of the electric utilities companies

View ranking

Further reading

  • Technical FAQs

    These FAQs explain technical aspects of how the ACT methodologies are used to assess companies in high emitting sectors and create WBA’s Electric Utilities Benchmark. 

    See FAQs here

  • Benchmark data set

    Our 2023 Electric Utilities Benchmark measures the world’s 68 most influential companies in the sector on their alignment with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius and their contributions to a just transition. This data sheet compiles company-level information and module and indicator scoring.

    See datasheet

  • Press release

    Read or download the 2023 Electric Utilities Benchmark news announcement

    See press release

The 68 keystone electric utilities companies

Locations

  • Title: Tohoku Electric Power
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Tokyo Electric Power Company
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Transcorp Power
    Place: Nigeria
    Description:
  • Title: Uniper
    Place: Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Vattenfall
    Place: Sweden
    Description:
  • Title: Vietnam Electricity
    Place: Vietnam
    Description:
  • Title: Vistra
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: WEC Energy Group
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Xcel Energy
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: ABB
    Place: Switzerland
    Description:
  • Title: Canadian Solar
    Place: Canada
    Description:
  • Title: Eaton
    Place: Ireland
    Description:
  • Title: First Solar
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: General Electric
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Honeywell
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Schneider Electric
    Place: France
    Description:
  • Title: Siemens Gamesa
    Place: Spain
    Description:
  • Title: Trina Solar
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Vestas
    Place: Denmark
    Description:
  • Title: Goldwind
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: AboitizPower
    Place: Philippines
    Description:
  • Title: AES
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: AGL Energy
    Place: Australia
    Description:
  • Title: American Eelectic Power
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: ČEZ Group
    Place: Czech Republic
    Description:
  • Title: China Datang
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: CHN Energy
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: China Huadian
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: China Huaneng
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: China Three Gorges
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Chubu Electric Power
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Chugoku Electric Power
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: CLP Group
    Place: Hong Kong, China
    Description:
  • Title: CMS Energy
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Comisión Federal de Electricidad
    Place: Mexico
    Description:
  • Title: Constellation Energy
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Dominion Energy
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Duke Energy
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: E.ON
    Place: Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Energias de Portugal
    Place: Portugal
    Description:
  • Title: Egyptian Electricity Holding Company
    Place: Egypt
    Description:
  • Title: Électricité de France
    Place: France
    Description:
  • Title: Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
    Place: Thailand
    Description:
  • Title: Eletrobras
    Place: Brazil
    Description:
  • Title: EnBW Company
    Place: Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Enel
    Place: Italy
    Description:
  • Title: ENGIE
    Place: France
    Description:
  • Title: Eskom
    Place: South Africa
    Description:
  • Title: Fortum
    Place: Finland
    Description:
  • Title: Iberdrola
    Place: Spain
    Description:
  • Title: Inter RAO
    Place: Russian Federation
    Description:
  • Title: J Power
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: JSW Energy
    Place: India
    Description:
  • Title: Kansai Electric Power
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: K-Electric
    Place: Pakistan
    Description:
  • Title: Korea Electric Power Corporation
    Place: Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: Kyushu Electric Power
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Mahagenco
    Place: India
    Description:
  • Title: Nextera Energy
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: NRG Energy
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: NTPC
    Place: India
    Description:
  • Title: Origin Energy
    Place: Australia
    Description:
  • Title: Ørsted
    Place: Denmark
    Description:
  • Title: Pacific Gas and Electric
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Pampa Energia
    Place: Argentina
    Description:
  • Title: Perusahaan Listrik Negara
    Place: Indonesia
    Description:
  • Title: Polska Grupa Energetyczna
    Place: Poland
    Description:
  • Title: Power Assets
    Place: Hong Kong, China
    Description:
  • Title: PPL
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Qatar Electricity and Water Company
    Place: Qatar
    Description:
  • Title: RWE
    Place: Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Saudi Electricity Company
    Place: Saudi Arabia
    Description:
  • Title: Southern Company
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: SSE
    Place: United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: State Power Investment Corporation
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Taipower
    Place: Taiwan, China
    Description:
  • Title: Tanzania Electric Supply Company
    Place: Tanzania
    Description:
  • Title: Tata Power
    Place: India
    Description:
  • Title: Tenaga Nasional
    Place: Malaysia
    Description:

Previous findings

  • 2021 benchmark results

    In 2021, we launched our second iteration of the Electric Utilities Benchmark, which measured the progress of 50 keystone companies in the sector towards the goals of the Paris Agreement.

    See 2021 findings