Utility Dive quotes AEE SVP Lisa Frantzis extensively in an article on utility business models for the 21st Century. From the article: 

"Normally utilities get a regulated rate of return for investing in certain capital assets. So they always had a real incentive to build a new power plant or invest heavily in capital assets," said Lisa Frantzis, senior vice president at Advanced Energy Economy (AEE).

Those investments typically net a return of about 9% to 10%—"not insignificant," said Frantzis. "But now that all these new innovative technologies are out there, they aren't huge capital investments. Some of them are software ... and different ways of integrating and working with the digitization of the grid. Now we have two way power flows, and consumers have devices communicating back to the grid."

Read the full article here.