Manas Pathak was born in a remote part of India where he saw firsthand the impact of less than reliable power. “When electricity is not coming to your home, you are deprived,” he says, adding that it seemed that blackouts made the smallest homes appear to be the darkest. Later, as he traveled around the U.S. and the United Kingdom as a college intern majoring in geosciences, Pathak saw how reliable energy contributed to the economic well-being of individuals and communities.