Private 5G networks are moving from pilot projects to cautious production deployments at a small but growing number of electric and gas utilities. The technology is genuinely useful in specific scenarios, but the industry-wide transformation narrative oversells what 5G actually delivers today.
Where 5G Fits in the Utility Technology Stack
The utility communications landscape already has several layers: licensed-band RF mesh (Itron OpenWay Riva, Landis+Gyr Gridstream), cellular LTE backhaul, fiber on the transmission side, and older SCADA radio. 5G does not replace these; it adds capacity and low latency in situations where existing options fall short.
The three most concrete use cases are:
Private campus networks at substations. A 5G private network (operating on licensed or CBRS spectrum) can connect protection relays, reclosers, and distributed energy resource controllers with sub-10 ms latency. GE Vernova and Schneider EcoStruxure ADMS platforms can absorb telemetry at this speed for fault detection and isolation.
Dense-urban AMI backhaul. In cities where building penetration defeats RF mesh, 5G small cells on utility poles carry meter reads from Itron or Landis+Gyr devices to the AMI head-end. That head-end then delivers interval data to an Oracle MDM or SAP MDG-U for validation and settlement before the CIS processes it for billing.
Field crew connectivity. Technicians running GIS-connected work management applications on tablets benefit from high-bandwidth 5G where Wi-Fi is unavailable. Esri ArcGIS field apps and SAP Work Manager both require reliable data sync; 5G reduces the offline-mode workarounds that slow field operations.
Integration With CIS and OMS
5G is a transport technology, not an application. Data flowing over a 5G network still must land somewhere meaningful. For electric utilities, that means reaching the OMS (outage management system) for switching orders, the ADMS for volt-VAR optimization, and ultimately the CIS for customer notification and billing. SAP IS-U and Oracle CC&B both consume interval reads from the MDM via batch or near-real-time feeds; the communication path to the meter is abstracted away from those systems entirely.
Utilities running Oracle CC&B and those on SAP IS-U need to evaluate 5G at the AMI head-end integration layer, not at the CIS level. The CIS does not care whether the meter read arrived over cellular, RF mesh, or 5G.
Honest Assessment of Deployment Barriers
The cost structure is demanding. Private 5G requires spectrum licensing or CBRS coordination, purpose-built radios, and a 5G core. For a distribution utility covering thousands of square miles, building coverage density that rivals an existing RF mesh network is expensive and slow.
Cybersecurity obligations compound the challenge. Any device connecting to the operational network must satisfy NERC CIP controls (for electric utilities in North America). A 5G endpoint that touches protection or metering infrastructure is subject to the same access management, patch management, and incident reporting requirements as any other grid device. The radio access network adds attack surface that must be accounted for in the CIP compliance program.
A further constraint: regulatory data residency requirements in some jurisdictions restrict where meter data can be processed. Cloud-hosted 5G core deployments that route data through shared infrastructure may require additional legal review.
What to Watch
Vendors including Ericsson and Nokia are partnering with utilities on private network builds. ERCOT in Texas, as the largest deregulated market in North America, represents a proving ground where settlement accuracy at scale requires reliable interval data delivery. Watch for 5G to expand in high-density meter areas in deregulated markets first.
For utilities evaluating the technology, start with a narrow scope: one substation or one urban meter cluster. Prove out the integration with the existing AMI head-end and MDM before making grid-wide commitments. The IoT and sensor data path into MDM and CIS is the actual integration problem to solve, and 5G is one option among several for the transport segment. See AvanSaber’s contact page for help scoping a realistic 5G pilot for your system architecture.