Statistical Review of World Energy 2026

Regulation is no longer a compliance issue. It has become a strategic business issue.

Irish utilities are entering a new era. The sector must deliver infrastructure investment, digitisation, resilience and customer outcomes while navigating a more complex regulatory environment.

Explore insights from our KPMG Ireland Utilities Regulatory & Resilience Centre team below.

Shane Garahy

Partner, Risk Consulting

KPMG in Ireland

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New challenges

Historically, utilities focused on compliance, operational performance and asset management.

Today, leaders must also address cyber threats, operational resilience, AI governance, stakeholder scrutiny and large-scale transformation programmes.

Source basis: KPMG global themes on energy transition, power and utilities insights, digital transformation and infrastructure resilience.

Yesterday

Compliance

Asset management

Regulatory reporting

Operational efficiency

Tomorrow

Resilience

Cyber governance

AI oversight

Regulatory transformation

Five forces reshaping Irish utilities

Regulatory complexity

Regulatory obligations continue to expand across operational resilience, cyber security, sustainability, customer outcomes and reporting requirements. Utilities need a more structured approach to change management.
Critical infrastructure resilience

Boards are increasingly expected to demonstrate resilience across operations, suppliers, technology and people. Resilience is now a governance requirement, not just an operational exercise.
Digital & AI

AI and advanced analytics offer significant opportunities but introduce new governance, risk and regulatory considerations. Utilities must balance innovation with safety, security and assurance.
Infrastructure transformation

Utilities must deliver complex investment programmes while maintaining affordability, reliability and stakeholder confidence. Capital delivery and transformation governance are becoming critical capabilities.
Public trust

Customers, regulators and government expect transparency, accountability and evidenced delivery. Trust will increasingly depend on how well utilities evidence outcomes, not just intentions.

The common thread: regulation, risk, resilience and transformation are no longer separate management disciplines.

Our view of current sector maturity

The Irish market is not starting from zero. Many utilities have mature compliance processes.

The gap is the integration of compliance with risk insight, resilience, cyber governance and transformation assurance.

Common challenges

Regulatory change managed in silos
Separate cyber, risk and resilience teams
Limited forward-looking regulatory monitoring
Inconsistent third-party oversight
Weak assurance over major transformation programmes

The opportunity is an integrated model:

Regulation + Risk + Resilience + Cyber + Transformation

The future utility operating model

The future utility is built around resilience. Regulation, risk, cyber, data and transformation need to connect through a single governance model with clear accountability and board-level visibility.

Regulation

Risk

Resilience

Cyber

Data & AI

Transformation delivery

What good looks like

Regulatory confidence
- Early identification of change
- Clear accountability
- Constructive regulator engagement
Operational resilience
- Critical service mapping
- Scenario testing
- Crisis readiness
Cyber & OT governance
- Board-level oversight
- Third-party assurance
- Integrated cyber resilience
Transformation excellence
- Strong programme governance
- Independent assurance
- Benefits realisation

Five actions for CEOs and boards

Establish a regulatory change office

Move from reactive compliance to proactive regulatory management.
Create an integrated resilience framework

Bring business continuity, crisis management, cyber and operational resilience together.
Elevate OT cyber risk

Treat operational technology risk as a board-level issue.
Implement AI governance early

Build governance and controls before scaling AI initiatives.
Strengthen transformation assurance

Increase oversight of major investment and transformation programmes.

The most successful utilities of the next decade will not simply comply with regulation. They will use regulation, resilience and risk management as sources of strategic advantage.

Selected KPMG source material

How KPMG can help

The KPMG Ireland Utilities Regulatory & Resilience Centre brings together capabilities across regulatory transformation, enterprise risk, operational resilience, cyber and OT governance, AI governance and programme assurance.

For practical support, get in touch with our team to explore how best to translate regulatory obligations into operational reality.

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