Dominion Resources is an American power and energy company with headquarter in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The company was founded in 1983 in the United States by William W. Berry. As of 2017, it is known as Dominion Energy. It has more than 17,300 employees in the US (Forbes, 2021). Dominion Resources has a primary three business sectors, first is electricity generation, second is Electricity delivery, and third is gas infrastructure. The electricity generation is responsible for the generation operation from its plants located in Indian, Illinois, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The electricity delivery division is responsible for the transmission and distribution of electricity. The natural gas infrastructure is responsible for the storage, distribution, and transmission of gas. Porter’s five forces model is a valuable tool to identify threats and opportunities faced by Dominion Resources in the energy utility industry.
Competitive Rivalry in the Market
The electric generation industry has grown invariably and is one of the important proponents of growth. It is a crucial part of today’s industrial revolution. The industry is at the forefront of every industrial process and played a significant role in it. The most significant competitors of Dominion Energy are FirstEnergy and CenterPoint Energy. FirstEnergy has earned $10.79 Billion in revenue (Macrotrends, 2021). On the other hand, CenterPoint Energy has posted $7.418 Billion in revenue (Macrotrends, 2021). Dominion Energy has published an annual revenue of $16.717 Billion in the last fiscal year; it is ranked 197 in Fortune 500 companies (Fortune, 2021). The competitive rivalry is high due to the presence of multinational companies with specialized entities.
Threat of Substitutes
Alternative renewable energy products are a threat to conventional companies. The world is moving away from traditional energy production. Traditional energy production was fossil fuel-based, and resources are depleting. Fossil fuel-based energy consumption is polluting the environment at an alarming rate. These solar energy and wind energy is a significant threat to traditional electric companies. The transmission and distribution industry is incorporating high-tech instruments and artificial intelligence to increase the efficiency and reliability of the system. Dominion Energy is investing heavily in smart grids and metering devices to increase the efficiency of its system. It is using Environmental Management System to track its environmental compliance (Dominion, 2021). The company can reduce the threat of substitution by adapting the technology. All these factors result in low-level threats.
The Threat of New Entrants
The capital required is the biggest impediment for the entrant, as the required capital is high. In the utility industry, regulations are strict. The government has stringent oversight protocols because of the involvement of the general public. The main barriers to entry in any industry are capital requirements, product differentiation, regulatory requirements, and economies of scale (Grant, 2010). Private companies need to consider the return on investment. The startup needs to establish the link with transmission and distribution companies as well. The well-established companies already have those links. Few of them have their distribution or transmission companies. The regulated bodies determine the price; companies aren’t allowed to set their price, decreasing their profit. The competition is stiff, there are tight profit margins with stringent compliance requirements, and thus the threat of new entrants remains low.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
Buyers exercise higher bargaining power if there are available options. Solar energy is the known solution, but it requires higher capital per person. The cost of solar energy per watt is way higher in the US than in other developed countries such as Australia (Energysage, 2021). They need to depend on their products because of the unavailability of any other affordable solution. The buyers of the energy utility company are commercial entities and domestic users. The buyers can’t exert any influence because they don’t have anything to a bargaining chip in this case. Commercial or industrial users get electric power at a subsidies rate. Domestic user’s only hope is a minor relief in the form of direct subsidy or tax relief. States can exert their power to bring the tariff down from companies. Considering the available facts, buyers have no or low bargaining power.
Bargaining Power of Supplier
The major suppliers in the electrical equipment industry are providers of raw materials and distributors. Distributors bring the consumer. In the energy production industry, the quality of raw material has a lot of weight. If the material is of good quality, it can significantly increase efficiency; otherwise, it can hamper it. Solar panels, wind turbines, fossil fuel generators are the major equipment needed for production. The stronger the power of suppliers in an industry, the more difficult it is for firms within that sector to make a profit. The suppliers can determine the terms and conditions on which business is conducted (Oregon State, 2021). These companies have multinational operational bases and have suppliers in different parts of the world. That gave them an edge over suppliers as they have multiple suppliers to choose from. So they can negotiate better deals for equipment. By analyzing all the facts mentioned above, suppliers hold moderate bargaining power.
References
Forbes. (2021). Dominion Energy. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/companies/dominion-energy/?sh=1cb7247f3392
Macrotrends. (2021). CenterPoint Energy Revenue 2006-2021 – CNP. Available at: https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CNP/centerpoint-energy/revenue
Macrotrends. (2021). FirstEnergy Revenue 2006-2021 – FE. Available at: https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/FE/firstenergy/revenue
Fortune. (2021). Dominion Energy. Available at: https://fortune.com/company/dominion-resources/fortune500/
Dominion (2021) Environment Overview. Available at: https://sustainability.dominionenergy.com/environment-overview/
Oregon State (2021) Analyzing the Organization’s Microenvironment. Available at: https://open.oregonstate.education/strategicmanagement/chapter/3-analyzing-the-organizations-microenvironment/
Energysage (2021) Why is solar more expensive in the US than in other countries? Available at: https://news.energysage.com/why-is-solar-more-expensive-in-the-us/
Grant, R. M. (2010). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. 7th Edition.