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Adam Barth

Senior PartnerHouston

Leader in McKinsey’s Global Energy & Materials and Public Sector Practices; helps private and public sector clients drive strategies to address the energy transition and realize the potential of operational and organizational transformations

Adam serves private and public sector energy leaders on future growth, decarbonization, capital productivity, and operational transformations. His deep experience in the private energy sector informs his views on how to help public and private sector leaders design and deliver on their strategies. He currently leads McKinsey’s transmission and distribution work globally, supporting clients through grid-related challenges, as well as the firm’s public sector energy and sustainability work in North America.

Adam’s work is driven by a desire to help leadership teams and organizations accelerate progress on ambitious goals and build effective implementation efforts rooted in long-term impact. For the last 15 years, Adam has built and scaled new firm capabilities to help clients rapidly analyze the impacts of their energy strategies and operational efforts.

Examples of Adam’s recent client work include the following:

  • supporting a large government energy department on its commercialization strategy, covering key technologies (e.g., hydrogen; long-duration energy storage; carbon capture, utilization, and storage; nuclear) and sectors (e.g., industrial decarbonization)
  • researching a US-wide hydrogen roadmap for a national energy department
  • leading a decarbonization pathway and future of gas strategy for a major regional utility, including renewables and clean fuels (e.g., hydrogen, renewable natural gas) strategy
  • leading a multiyear operational transformation of the transmission and distribution business unit of a major US gas utility that resulted in a 25–35 percent unit-cost reduction along with increases in safety and reliability measures
  • delivering a multiyear organizational transformation for a US utility’s distribution organization that focused on improving cost and training frontline employees on new operating practices, leading the effort at two of their largest operating companies and helping build the program to scale with an impact of 15–25 percent operation and maintenance savings
  • developing organizational strategy for the energy-services unit of a major US utility to help set up the long-term structure, processes, capabilities, and systems required to be best in class
  • supporting an effort with a major US utility to develop a utility of the future strategy, with an emphasis on future transmission and distribution needs, business model implications, and resulting legislative and regulatory strategy

Adam is a member of the Genesys Works Houston Board of Directors, which connects high school students from typically underserved communities with internships, providing them with essential training and meaningful work experiences to empower their career success. In his personal time, he enjoys spending time with his two daughters, volunteering, traveling, and playing soccer.

Published work

How grid operators can integrate the coming wave of renewable energy,” McKinsey & Company, February 2024

How US states can advance a successful clean-energy transition,” McKinsey & Company, January 2024

One year into the BIL: Catalyzing US investments in energy,” McKinsey & Company, March 2023

The future of natural gas in North America,” McKinsey & Company, January 2020

Are US gas utilities nearing the end of their golden age?,” McKinsey & Company, September 2018

The power of untapped potential: How US utilities can transform their distribution systems,” McKinsey & Company, February 2015

EDUCATION

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
MBA

Yale University
BA, ethics in political economy