Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • March 2004 (Revised June 2004)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Blackout: August 14, 2003

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Ryland Matthew Willis
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:23
ShareBar

Abstract

On August 14, 2003, an electricity blackout cascaded throughout the northeastern United States and Canada. Describes the structure, technology, and economics of the electric utility industry and how gradual deregulation beginning in the 1970s placed unprecedented, and unintended, stress on the transmission grid. Discusses the government's role in trying to mitigate congestion along transmission lines and facilitate improved planning and operational coordination through the establishment of independent system operators and regional transmission organizations. Also describes the recent financial performance of the electricity industry, the potential costs of modernizing the U.S. transmission infrastructure, and the role of political contributions in shaping regulation.

Keywords

Information Technology; Performance Improvement; Infrastructure; Energy Sources; Business and Government Relations; Networks; Emerging Markets; Failure; Economics; Utilities Industry; Canada; Northeastern United States

Citation

Eisenmann, Thomas R., and Ryland Matthew Willis. "Blackout: August 14, 2003." Harvard Business School Case 804-156, March 2004. (Revised June 2004.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Thomas R. Eisenmann

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Interior Collab

    By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn
    • February 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Enstitute

    By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Kumba Sennaar and Sarah Mehta
    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Kavnia Coffee

    By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Kumba Sennaar, Sarah Mehta and Jiyoon Han
More from the Authors
  • Interior Collab By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn
  • Enstitute By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Kumba Sennaar and Sarah Mehta
  • Kavnia Coffee By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Kumba Sennaar, Sarah Mehta and Jiyoon Han
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College