October Energy Awareness: Elevating Utility PMO Optimization for Efficiency & Affordability

October is National Energy Awareness Month, a time when the nation pays attention to energy, infrastructure, reliability, and the bold investments required to keep the lights on and the grid resilient. For utility executives, this month is more than awareness—it’s a call to action: to reassess and optimize how capital programs are delivered, how costs are controlled, and how project execution itself becomes a strategic advantage.
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In this article, Sharelynn Moore explores how PMO optimization, paired with design discipline and process rigor, can transform utility capital programs into engines of efficiency and affordability. We’ll walk through proven case studies from 4Liberty, practical lessons, and strategic levers you can deploy now.

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The Stakes: Why Utilities Must Optimize PMO Execution

Modern utilities operate at the intersection of multiple pressures:

• Affordability is top of mind with escalating costs and increased scrutiny from regulators
• Growing investments needed for load growth, reliability, and resilience
• The complexity of integrating DERs, grid modernization investments, cybersecurity, and infrastructure upgrades
• The need to do more with constrained capital budgets

In this context, PMO (Project Management Office) functions are no longer just administrative oversight; they are strategic levers with emerging projects having higher consequence than ever. Optimizing PMO means better alignment with enterprise goals, less waste, fewer surprises, and a higher likelihood of meeting commitments.

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The Hidden Costs of Inefficiency

Even well-intentioned capital programs can suffer from:

• Governance gaps — inconsistent decision policies across projects that waste time and suboptimize decision making
• Design / execution misalignment — late design changes, vendor conflicts, scope creep, and rework
• Cost and schedule slippage — when oversight is reactive not proactive
• Redundant or fragmented systems — duplicate tools, inconsistent reporting, manual workflows

These inefficiencies waste invested capital, damage credibility with regulators, and slow modernization.

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4Liberty’s Capability Ecosystem: Enabling PMO Optimization

At 4Liberty, our model is designed to provide holistic support across the utility capital lifecycle. Some of our service lines that tie in directly with PMO optimization include:

• Turnkey Project Management Services — covering program management, design, controls, field verification, advisory, and more. (link: 4Liberty Services)
  
  
• Shared Services — centralized finance, scheduling, document control, business intelligence, data science, and app development, functions to create consistency and efficiency across projects. (link: Shared Services)
  
  
• Audits & Assessments — financial audits and operational performance evaluations, identifying inefficiencies and control gaps to strengthen decision-making and regulatory compliance. (link: Advisory, Audits and Assessment Services)

These service lines form the backbone of a PMO capability that is not siloed but integrated, scalable, and aligned with utility capital strategy.

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Case Study 1: Reducing Variance to Plan and Driving Efficiency in Pole Replacement Programs

4Liberty partners with a major West Coast utility to enhance performance and cost predictability across its Transmission Corrective Maintenance Program (CMP)—a large-scale initiative designed to ensure grid reliability and public safety through timely pole replacements and infrastructure upgrades.

The program covers more than 600 active pole infractions at any given time across 4,500 square miles, each subject to strict one-year compliance deadlines under GO95 Rule 18. These projects require coordination across multiple disciplines, including design, permitting, environmental review, procurement, and construction—all under accelerated timelines and complex jurisdictional constraints.

Our engagement included:

• Streamline design and constructability workflows to reduce field delays and lower per-pole costs
• Develop a custom PMO platform using Microsoft PowerApps and SharePoint to automate workflows and increase production capacity
• Enhance financial tracking and forecasting to monitor 200+ pole replacements with precision, maintaining alignment with capital plans
• Strengthens stakeholder and vendor relationships, embedding structured communication, escalation paths, and shared KPIs
• Implement Power BI dashboards for real-time visibility and rapid issue resolution
• Provide 24/7 field support, enabling immediate decision-making and minimizing outage cancellations

Results:

• Reduced permitting-related delays to under 1% across 300+ active projects
• Achieved less than 1% year-end budget variance in 2023
• Improved design and construction sequencing, saving two crew-days per pole through optimized design standards
• Enhanced schedule reliability and production efficiency, achieving record-breaking output in 2022
• Established a replicable PMO framework that drives sustained cost control, transparency, and delivery predictability

This program demonstrates how integrating design discipline, process automation, and financial governance can transform high-volume compliance work into a model of operational efficiency—proving that even under tight deadlines and complex regulatory environments, precision and predictability are achievable.
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Case Study 2: Budget Review & Optimization for a Regional Power Authority

4Liberty was engaged by a regional public power authority to conduct a comprehensive Budget Review Process across its Transmission & Distribution (T&D) capital and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) programs. The goal was to assess budgeting accuracy, process alignment, and overall financial effectiveness between internal departments and operating partners.

Our engagement included:

• Review current-state capital and O&M budgeting processes to evaluate traceability, forecast accuracy, and governance
• Conduct a GAP analysis to identify improvement opportunities and define a future-state roadmap aligned with industry best practices
• Full budget lifecycle evaluation, from project initiation to reporting and audits
• Practical recommendations to enhance capital planning visibility, daily O&M decision-making, and real-time reporting

Results Delivered:

• Strengthened stakeholder alignment across finance, operations, and executive teams
• Delivered capital planning improvement recommendations for better forecasting and control
• Produced a comprehensive system and process gap analysis to support regulatory readiness and audit transparency

This engagement demonstrates how structured financial assessment and governance optimization can help utilities achieve greater budget accuracy, accountability, and long-term affordability.

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Embedding Design, Automation & Governance to Drive Efficiency

To realize the gains from PMO optimization, execution must be supported by:

1. Standardization & Library Reuse — standardized templates, component libraries, and repeatable design patterns reduce variability across sites.
2. Governance & Stage‑Gate Oversight — align design, procurement, construction, and closeout phases with decision gates and risk oversight.
3. Metric Discipline — tracking change orders avoided, budget variance, schedule adherence, and process KPIs as part of executive dashboards
4. Shared Services Backbone — centralized scheduling, cost reporting, documentation, and QA functions to support project PMOs across portfolios.

These levers combine to transform execution from reactive firefighting to predictable performance.

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Strategic Impact: What Utility Leaders Gain

When PMO optimization is done well, it yields:

• Lower total cost of delivery with fewer surprises, less waste, and tighter margins
• Improved capital turnover — faster execution allows reinvestment sooner
• Stronger regulatory compliance — transparency, audit readiness, defensible variance
• Higher stakeholder confidence — board members, regulators, customers see reliability
• Scalable execution — practices and controls applied across transmission, distribution, substation, DER, and security projects

If your utility is striving to modernize, upgrade reliability, or integrate new assets, PMO optimization isn't optional — it’s foundational.

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Practical Steps for Utility Decision Makers

To get started:

• Pilot a critical project (e.g. a substation upgrade) with embedded PMO optimization
• Define governance & standards — stage-gate policies, decision workflows, oversight roles
• Stand up shared services support functions — cost control, document management, schedule monitoring
• Measure rigorously — track performance vs. plan, change order counts, variance, schedule slippages

Executing these with discipline lays the foundation for repeatable, predictable capital delivery.

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Looking Ahead: The Future of Utility PMO & Grid Resilience

The next evolution of PMO lies in:

• AI-powered design validation — models that flag coverage gaps, cost overruns, or compliance deviations
• Technical expertise with cross-domain integration — combining grid, security, and operations into unified capital governance
• Modular / plug-and-play program frameworks — repeatable, scalable execution templates for distributed assets
  
  

Utilities that evolve their PMO capabilities now will gain a structural advantage in efficiency, affordability, and resilience.

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A Call to Action: From Awareness to Action in October

This Energy Awareness Month isn’t just symbolic. It’s an ideal moment to recommit to execution excellence. I encourage utility executives to:

• Assess the maturity of their PMO and capital processes
• Engage a PMO optimization or benchmarking partner
• Launch a pilot during the next capital cycle
• Commit to metrics, discipline, and governance as core enablers

If you'd like to explore a PMO health assessment or pilot with 4Liberty, let’s connect.

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Author

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‍Sharelynn Moore
CEO
4Liberty, Inc