Stories
Stories
Building a Green Energy Grid
Green-energy entrepreneur Michael Skelly (MBA 1991) founded Houston-based Clean Line Energy in 2009 to tackle a critical challenge. “If you look at the wind-power equation,” he says, “you quickly see that transmitting energy long distances from rural wind farms to large cities is the big obstacle. I figured the world didn’t need another wind developer as much as it needed someone who could figure out the transmission problem.”
The complexity of expanding the US electric grid becomes clear when Skelly describes Clean Line’s $2.5 billion Plains & Eastern Project, which will transmit 4,000 megawatts of wind energy—enough to power more than one million homes—from the wind-rich Oklahoma Panhandle region to customers in Arkansas, Tennessee, and other states in the Mid-South and Southeast. “Picture a new, 700-mile stretch of overhead, direct-current wire that requires easements from thousands of private landowners and the approvals of federal, state, and town officials,” says Skelly, who spends much of his time these days negotiating with investors, lawmakers, customers, landowners, and utility executives.
Never one to shy away from long-odds challenges, Skelly is a Peace Corps veteran who cofounded the first aerial tramway in Costa Rica’s rainforest and made a quixotic bid in 2008 for US Congress. He is committed to helping the country attain a 30 percent reliance on renewable energy, with Clean Line Energy playing a central role. “I’ve always wanted to make an idealistic contribution to the world,” Skelly shares. “I think our company will do that.”
(Published September 2016)
Support the next generation of leaders Make a gift nowPost a Comment
Related Stories
-
- 01 Dec 2023
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Elevator Pitch: Feedback
Re: Laxmi Stebbins Wordham (MBA 2001); By: Illustration by Drue Wagner; Photo by ChiChi Ubiña -
- 01 Jun 2023
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Batteries Included
Re: Steven Henderson (MBA 2016); John McCown (MBA 1980); By: Catherine O’Neill Grace -
- 01 Jun 2022
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Research Brief: Weatherproofing Renewables
Re: Jorge Tamayo (Assistant Professor of Business Administration); By: Jen McFarland Flint -
- 14 Jan 2022
- Making A Difference
Power Play
Re: Rahul Advani (MBA 2004); Sara Graziano (MBA 2011); Chris Smith (MBA 2001)
Stories Featuring Michael Skelly
-
- 22 Jun 2019
- Wall Street Journal
Building the Wind Turbines Was Easy. The Hard Part Was Plugging Them In
Re: Michael Skelly (MBA 1991) -
- 17 Nov 2016
- HBS Alumni News
Wired for Innovation
Re: Michael Skelly (MBA 1991); By: Deborah Blagg -
- 01 Sep 2011
- Alumni Stories
Green Day
Re: Erl Lorentzen (MBA 1948); Mark Tercek (MBA 1984); Hansjorg Wyss (MBA 1965); Erika Diamond (MBA 2007); Annie Davis (MBA 2007); Ana Diniz (OPM 36); Michael Skelly (MBA 1991); Rao Mulpuri (AMP 171); Mike Armsby (MBA 1997); Stu Evans (MBA 1973); By: Julia Hanna;Sarah Auerbach
