Publications
Publications
Show Results For
-
All HBS Web
(222)
- Faculty Publications (43)
Page 1 of
43
Results
→
- January 2020
- Case
Governing PG&E
By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz
The five commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) listened intently at a public forum in April 2019 as PG&E Corporation’s out-going chairman Richard Kelly described the company’s proposed new board. PG&E, which provided electricity and natural...
View Details
Keywords:
Bankruptcy;
Board Of Directors;
Board Dynamics;
Business Ethics;
Business Model Innovation;
Corporate Boards;
Energy Efficiency;
Environmental And Social Sustainability;
Government And Business;
Hedge Funds;
Institutional Investors;
Legal Aspects Of Business;
Regulated Monopolies;
Regulation;
Shareholders;
Stakeholder Management;
Strategy And Execution;
Utilities;
Insolvency and Bankruptcy;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Ethics;
Capital Structure;
Climate Change;
Corporate Accountability;
Corporate Governance;
Environmental Sustainability;
Executive Compensation;
Leadership;
Management;
Safety;
Business and Government Relations;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
California;
United States
- January 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
CrossBoundary Energy
By: John Macomber
Almost 500 million people are without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and public utilities are challenged to bring generation and distribution to most of them. Considerable promise exists in “off-grid” or “mini-grid” technologies, notably using renewable...
View Details
Keywords:
Energy Investing;
Economic Development;
Renewable Energy;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Developing Countries and Economies;
Project Finance;
Emerging Markets;
Industry Structures;
Infrastructure;
Segmentation;
Private Equity;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
Africa;
Tanzania;
Ghana
- November 2018
- Case
Swissgrid: Enterprise Risk Management in a Digital Age
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Anette Mikes
Kurt Meyer, chief risk officer of Swissgrid, the Swiss national electricity transmission system operator, reflects on the risk management system he installed after the deregulation and liberalization of the European energy market. With 41 connections to other European...
View Details
- July 2018 (Revised July 2018)
- Teaching Note
Argentina Power—Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Sayiddah Fatima McCree
Teaching Note for HBS No. 218-041. This case concerns a complex potential energy infrastructure investment in Argentina by a global conglomerate shortly after Mauricio Macri (“Macri”) became President of Argentina in 2015. The central issues are (i) why was a country...
View Details
- May 2018 (Revised October 2018)
- Case
Argentina Power—Don't Cry for Me Argentina
By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Sayiddah Fatima McCree
In 2016, Bruce Wayne, Managing Director of Energy Finance Corporation (“EFC”), was refining the Investment/Credit Committee materials for the development of up to 10 power generating plants in Argentina. As a subsidiary of the much larger International Conglomerate...
View Details
Keywords:
Cross Border;
Energy Markets;
Infrastructure Finance;
Infrastructure Development;
Business Subsidiaries;
Business Cycles;
Macroeconomics;
Energy Generation;
International Finance;
Project Finance;
Government and Politics;
Demand and Consumers;
Infrastructure;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
Argentina;
Latin America
- August 2017 (Revised December 2017)
- Case
Accounting for Nuclear Power Provisions at RWE
By: Paul Healy and Jonas Heese
In early 2016, RWE, a utility that operates nuclear power plants in Germany, came under scrutiny from regulators and the media over the adequacy of its provisions for costs of decommissioning and dismantling (D&D) its nuclear power plants. Accounting standards required...
View Details
- July 2017 (Revised March 2019)
- Technical Note
The Future of Mobility: Economic, Environmental, and Social Implications
By: George Serafeim and David Freiberg
This technical note explores how advancements in technology are fundamentally transforming how consumers interact with mobility. Transformation is being driven by three independent trends: the emergence of affordable electric vehicles, the development of autonomous...
View Details
Keywords:
Oil ＆ Gas;
Automobile Manufacturing;
Technological And Scientific Innovation;
Mobility;
Inequality;
Electric Vehicles;
Ride-sharing;
Ambidexterity;
Transformation;
Disruption;
Change;
Technological Innovation;
Transportation;
Equality and Inequality;
Auto Industry;
Technology Industry;
Transportation Industry;
Distribution Industry
- Article
The Electrification Accelerator: Understanding the Implications of Autonomous Vehicles for Electric Utilities
By: Jurgen Weiss, Ryan Hledik, Roger Lueken, Tony Lee and Will Gorman
The intersection of autonomous vehicles, ride sharing and transportation electrification could have significant implications for electric utilities. This paper analyses how the development of shared autonomous electric vehicles may make electrified transportation more...
View Details
- October 2015 (Revised January 2017)
- Case
UPower Technologies Inc.
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Liz Kind
The UPower founders, Jake DeWitte and Caroline Cochran, were recent graduates from MIT's Nuclear Science and Engineering Department. They chose to attend Palo Alto–based Y Combinator's accelerator program to focus on building a "mini" nuclear reactor that would produce...
View Details
Keywords:
Nuclear;
Nuclear Energy;
Nuclear Power;
Energy Markets;
New Nuclear;
Entrepreneurial Finance;
Entrepreneurial Marketing;
Business ＆ Government Relations;
Off-grid;
Energy;
Renewable Energy;
Energy Generation;
Energy Sources;
Entrepreneurship;
Marketing;
Business and Government Relations;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
United States
- June 2015 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
American Electric Power: Facing the Challenges of Distributed Generation
By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Hilary White
American Electric Power, like most utilities in the USA, is currently exposed to distributed generation and the problem of net-metering. Solar installations in particular have been heavily subsidized, by the state and by regulation, which does not allow grid operators...
View Details
Keywords:
Electricity;
Utilities;
Electric Power Generation;
Net Metering;
Distributed Generation;
Disruptive Innovation;
Energy Markets;
Solar Power;
Wind Power;
Solar;
Wind;
Subsidies;
Legislation;
Regulation;
Disruption;
Energy;
Energy Generation;
Renewable Energy;
Problems and Challenges;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Technology;
Business Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
United States
- February 2015 (Revised December 2016)
- Case
Poseidon Carlsbad: Desalination and the San Diego County Water Authority
By: John Macomber
Extreme drought conditions in California have significant impacts on the ability of the San Diego County Water Authority to provide adequate water for current users. Water shortfalls also could curtail the economic development of one of the fastest growing regions in...
View Details
- February 2015 (Revised March 2016)
- Case
China Shenhua Energy Company
By: Forest L. Reinhardt, G. A. Donovan and Keith Chi-ho Wong
A leading Chinese energy firm, active in coal mining and electric power generation, analyzes coal-to-liquids technology in light of energy security and environmental concerns.
View Details
- February 2013 (Revised December 2015)
- Case
Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira R. Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice
Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial...
View Details
Keywords:
Groom Energy Solutions;
Jon Guerster;
Salem, MA;
Energy Management;
Energy Efficiency Paradox;
Sustainability Management;
Manufacturing;
Cold Storage;
Commercial Real Estate;
Enterprise Smart Grid;
Carbon Accounting;
LED Lighting;
Sustainability Research;
Entrepreneurship;
Environmental Entrepreneurship;
Energy Entrepreneurship;
Energy Services;
Electricity;
Startup;
Expansion;
Growth;
Sustainability;
Business Startups;
Forecasting and Prediction;
Energy Conservation;
Revenue;
Geographic Location;
Human Resources;
Management;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Market Entry and Exit;
Operations;
Service Delivery;
Strategic Planning;
Science;
Environmental Sustainability;
Climate Change;
Society;
Social Issues;
Technology Adoption;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
Utilities Industry;
United States;
Boston
- August 2012 (Revised September 2013)
- Case
EnerNOC: DemandSMART
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice
EnerNOC is an energy company with an innovative business model: it serves as an intermediary between electric utilities and electricity users. It contracts with electricity users willing to reduce demand during periods of peak energy demand, and sells this as excess...
View Details
Keywords:
Production Planning;
Productivity;
Environmental Protection;
Energy;
Environment;
Business Government Relations;
Laws And Regulation;
Business Model;
Environmental Sustainability;
Innovation and Invention;
Opportunities;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Supply Chain Management;
Production;
Energy Conservation;
Energy Industry
- September 2011 (Revised February 2014)
- Case
Duke Energy and the Nuclear Renaissance
Duke Energy, an American investor-owned electric utility, confronts multibillion dollar decisions about its future fuel mix. In particular, its leaders are considering building new nuclear capacity. Whether this is sensible depends, among other things, on demand...
View Details
- February 2011 (Revised September 2013)
- Case
Sound Group China: Urban Waste Entrepreneurs
By: John D. Macomber, Chad M. Carr and Fan Zhao
Private sector entrepreneur in China with advanced solid waste management capability competes with state owned enterprises and also government policies supporting a rival technology. Wen Yibo has used engineering expertise and political savvy to build a major privately...
View Details
- October 2010 (Revised July 2013)
- Case
AEP: Carbon Capture and Storage
By October 2010, American Electric Power, the largest coal-fired, electric utility in the United States, had been operating a carbon capture and sequestration pilot plant for one year. Using a proprietary, Alstom chilled ammonia technology, AEP was capturing and...
View Details
- May 2009 (Revised January 2011)
- Case
Enel: Power, Russia, and Global Markets
By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Richard H.K. Vietor and Sogomon Tarontsi
Although the global trend toward liberalization of electric utilities forced Enel, the largest power company in Italy, to give up some of its assets in its home base, it also opened up many opportunities abroad, including in Russia, one of the largest electricity...
View Details
- October 2007 (Revised March 2009)
- Case
Advanced Energy: Programs for Energy Conservation
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Brooke Barton
Describes the dilemma facing Advanced Energy (AE), a $6 million nonprofit engaged in energy conservation in North Carolina. Most of the money for its programs comes from a Public Benefits Fund (PBF) enacted by the state legislature. With renewed effort by activists in...
View Details
- May 2006 (Revised February 2012)
- Case
General Electric's 20th Century CEOs (Abridged)
By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony J. Mayo and Mark Benson
General Electric thrived in every decade of the 20th century. Since its founding in 1892, GE has placed a high value on picking and training the best people. Staff members worked with other scientists in the company's research lab to design and manufacture new and...
View Details