Sara Harari

Yale School of Management, MBA, 2019 Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Master of Environmental Management, 2019
ASHRAE

Sara is a third-year joint-degree candidate at Yale with a focus on developing new business models for the energy sector. At Yale, she works with CBEY on a number of initiatives which focus on the applications of academic research including the SEEDS II high-value-solar research team, partnering with local utilities to identify areas of the grid that can benefit most from distributed generation. She is also the co-founder of the Environmental Solutions Accelerator, which brings together a diverse and forward thinking community of students, professors, alumni, industry leaders, and NGOs to participate in events pushing the agenda forward on pressing sustainability challenges.

This summer, Sara worked for CBEY developing the New York State Microgrid initiative, which aims to accelerate the adoption of community microgrids. Sara spent her first summer internship at Avangrid, where she was the Energy Analyst intern, developing new business models across the energy efficiency product line. Prior to coming to Yale, Sara worked as an energy engineer for Jacobs Engineering on projects around the world including energy efficient building and power plant design, utility master planning, and demand side management.

Sara holds a BS in civil engineering with a focus on designing and implementing sustainable solutions for the next generation of infrastructure. She believes that designing for sustainability is a multi-faceted approach that carefully balances policy goals, environmental impacts, and economics. Sara grew up in Boston, but spent the five years prior to Yale in Austin, TX, and as such, she is an avid fan of BBQ competitions and live music.

Authored Articles
Hospital connected to community microgrid

Community Microgrids – A Tool for Adaptation or Mitigation?

This explainer is the third part of a series by Sara Harari and Nate Grady on how microgrids are being used to transform the electrical grid. As climate change becomes the new reality, policymakers must decide how to invest limited resources in advanced technology and infrastructure. At the heart of...
A microgrid connecting to the office of a champion decision maker

The Role of Community Microgrid Champions

Community microgrids can be initiated by a wide range of individuals or organizations. They include mayors and utilities. They also may include “anchor” off-takers like hospital management, development companies, or community organizations. But to succeed, they require that at least one person really take the lead and energize the project.
Grand finale with fireworks above a circus tent

The Grand Finale: Energy-Grid Barriers and Solutions

On social media and at industry conventions, it is easy to find high-profile discussions on the technological revolution of electric grids. Experts on energy storage, distributed generation, and wireless options describe how emerging technologies are poised to transform the electricity sector. The hype is real. Energy companies are developing technologies...
Circus admission

Regulators and Pilots: Now for Our First Act

Like a brilliant new TV show, new energy technologies must run the gauntlet of the pilot phase, soliciting interest from utilities and developers. In the electric industry, piloting new equipment can be particularly difficult because new, advanced energy-technology pilots must demonstrate that deployment won’t compromise the stability of the electric...

A High-Wire Act: Balancing a Modern Grid with Regulated Assets

Look at the electrical systems around you. You might not know it, but from power plants with towering smokestacks to wires across the nation, the grid is changing faster than ever before. When utilities make investments approved by state regulators, the cost of the investment plus a reasonable ROI is...
Juggler with three balls illustration

Juggling Approaches to Power Procurement

From batteries to blockchain, the energy sector is enjoying a period of rapid innovation with new technologies coming to market that carry the potential to upend traditional electric infrastructure and business models. Yet electric utilities and other electricity providers have been slow to adopt these novel technologies largely because they...
Utility circus graphic

Electricity Evolution: Meet the Ringmasters

When Tesla unveiled the utility-scale Powerpack battery in 2015, analysts and observers excitedly proclaimed the product’s low price point would revolutionize electric grid operations and business models as it set new cost benchmarks for energy storage. But despite the hype, the reception from utilities was tepid at best. This experience...