Utilities - Publications - Faculty & Research

September 1981 (Revised November 1983)
Case

September 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

EnergyNow: Powering a New Market

By: Alexander MacKay and James Barnett

In August 2022, EnergyNow co-founder and CEO Stuart MacWilliam (MBA 2015) considers the company strategy for building solar panels to provide power in South Africa’s recently deregulated energy market. View Details

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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; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; United States

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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

Keywords: Environment; China; CO2; Coal Mining; Electricity; Sustainability; Energy; Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Energy Generation; Energy Sources; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; China; Asia

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September 2011 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Duke Energy and the Nuclear Renaissance

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Forest L. Reinhardt

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

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Expansion; Policy; Business Strategy; Energy Sources; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; United States

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August 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Supplement

Urban Water Partners (A) (CW)

By: Karthik Ramanna and George Serafeim

The case explores a new venture to bring clean water to Tanzanians who otherwise cannot access or afford it. Management has enough money to get their company through August 2010, but needs more capital. An HBS alum is interested in investing in the company;... View Details

Keywords: Human Needs; Accrual Accounting; Financial Statements; Utilities Industry; Utilities Industry; Dar es Salaam

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July 2003
Teaching Note

Financing PPL Corporation's Growth Strategy (TN)

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Teaching Note for (5-202-045). View Details

Keywords: Utilities Industry; Utilities Industry; Pennsylvania

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June 2003
Teaching Note

Contractual Innovation in the U.K. Energy Markets: Enron Europe, The Eastern Group, and the Sutton Bridge Project (TN)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

Teaching Note for (9-200-051). View Details

Keywords: Utilities Industry; Utilities Industry; United Kingdom

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April 2003 (Revised July 2003)
Case

E.ON AG

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Forest L. Reinhardt and Deborah Freier

Keywords: Utilities Industry; Utilities Industry; Germany

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March 1994 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Reading Energy

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Reading Energy builds facilities that produce energy from nontraditional fuels. A privately held, entrepreneurial organization, it has spent six years developing a plan to build a waste-to-energy plant in the town of Robbins, Illinois. The plant would burn municipal... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business and Community Relations; Business Plan; Agreements and Arrangements; Contracts; Risk and Uncertainty; Government and Politics; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Utilities Industry; Utilities Industry; Illinois

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2025
Working Paper

When Where Watt: Harnessing the Value of Time and Location for Renewable Electricity Generation

By: Vishrut Rana, Christian Kaps and Serguei Netessine

Problem definition: Investments in renewable energy have surged worldwide in recent years, with over $2 trillion spent globally on clean energy. This surge was driven by growing policy support, concerns about energy security, and, most importantly, the cost... View Details

Keywords: Wind Power; Electricity Distribution; Renewable Energy; Profit; Investment Return; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Geographic Location; Revenue; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry

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SSRN

20 Aug 2024
Book

Why Competing With Tech Giants Requires Finding Your Own Edge

within your own ecosystem, you can become more proactive in harnessing their resources, such as data and infrastructure, for innovation and growth. In today’s digital age, it isn’t daunting to utilize resources from tech giants to fuel... View Details

Keywords: by Feng Zhu; Technology; Information Technology

17 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 17, 2018

Political Economy Costly Concessions: An Empirical Framework for Matching with Imperfectly Transferable Utility By: Galichon, Alfred, Scott Duke Kominers, and Simon Weber Abstract—We introduce an empirical framework for models of matching... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

27 Aug 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Learning From Japan’s Remarkable Disaster Recovery

It's common in Harvard Business School classrooms to discuss the "pivot," the moment an enterprise changes direction to pursue a new strategy. On a visit to eastern Japan, MBA students talked to Masamichi Ono, CEO of chrysanthemum grower Ono Kashoen, which... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Utilities; Utilities; Utilities

24 Feb 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Accelerating Innovation In Energy: Insights from Multiple Sectors

Keywords: by Rebecca M. Henderson & Richard G. Newell; Utilities; Utilities; Utilities

06 Nov 2012
Op-Ed

Stop Talking About the Weather and Do Something: Three Ways to Finance Sustainable Cities

The wrath of Hurricane Sandy has illuminated a fundamental question: How do we ensure that our cities are resilient in the face of inevitable future disasters? A destroyed city is not a sustainable city. I'm making the case that it's time to stop complaining about... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Real Estate; Energy; Utilities

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

Keywords: Risk Management; Partners and Partnerships; Resource Allocation; Public Sector; Private Sector; Environmental Sustainability; Policy; Infrastructure; Utilities Industry; Utilities Industry; California

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01 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

Two Decades Later, is the 'New Economy' Finally Here?

second of these books, Exponential Organizations (“ExOs”), explores the impact of new technologies on organizations. These are organizations driven by such things as AI, robotics, biotech and bioinformatics, data science, and 3D printing. Among other things, they staff... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

27 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes

Harvard Business School professors often travel into the field to conduct business research, but it's a safe bet none have had the experience of Professor Robin Ely. She and coauthor Debra Meyerson of Stanford University took helicopter trips to deep-water oil... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Utilities; Utilities