An Intern's Mission to Make Houston the Energy Transition Capital of the World

Meet Nikki Beittenmiller, Full-Time MBA '24

MBA Internship: Quanta Services, Inc.

Internship Location: Houston, TX

Position Before MBA: North American Energy & Cleantech Specialist, Egon Zehnder in Houston, TX

How did you secure your internship?

I was getting breakfast with a former colleague, and we started discussing the work his friend, a VP at Quanta, was doing to help rebuild the grid in Puerto Rico. My colleague connected the two of us and after some great conversations about P.R. and a variety of energy transition topics, I got to meet the rest of the team. From there, they offered me an internship opportunity!

What is your role and responsibilities during the internship?

As a corporate strategy intern, I focus on evaluating new market opportunities specifically related to energy transition issues and technologies. So far, that has included market opportunity assessments for things like low-carbon hydrogen, carbon capture, temporary power solutions, renewable natural gas (RNG) and more. I meet with Quanta customers to give them our perspectives on market developments and to highlight Quanta’s capabilities across the energy and power value chain.

In addition, I meet with business development and technical teams from across the Quanta family of operating companies (there are over three hundred!). I share market intelligence related to energy transition topics while listening to the perspectives they hear from customers in the field.

Finally, I help our leadership team evaluate specific investment opportunities in earlier-stage climate tech companies and venture funds.

What department is your internship with?

Strategic operations (the equivalent of a corporate strategy group).

How did your MBA coursework prepare you for this internship?

Our strategy classes with Professor Balaji gave me excellent frameworks for assessing new market opportunities and then presenting them to senior leadership. Other important core concepts from our finance, data analysis and accounting classes have given me the ability to present financial and other quantitative data and evidence to support my work. Our core marketing class offered helpful lessons for how we can market ourselves effectively to customers as they begin to pursue their own energy transition-related projects.

How does the internship align with your career goals?

I came to Rice Business to support my transition from professional services (i.e., consulting) to the corporate side of energy transition. As a native Houstonian, I’m passionate about helping Houston transform from the energy capital of the world to the energy transition capital of the world. To do that, I knew I wanted to work for a company that has the reputation, scale and ambition to advance the energy transition both here and across the country. Quanta is exactly that place. Working on the strategic operations team has been the perfect place to connect market insights with Quanta capabilities. I've leveraged my industry knowledge and consulting skillset while learning new things every day about the vast world of infrastructure solutions and all the various emerging energy technologies that we need to help our country achieve its net-zero goals.

How do you think the internship will help you with your MBA studies or future career?

It’s been such a great experience to put the concepts we’ve learned in class into practice. For example, I’ve become more comfortable integrating financial and accounting data into my presentations to senior leadership.

What is your favorite part of your internship experience?

This is my first time working at a company this large and working at corporate headquarters. You really feel the difference in terms of the culture. I frequently grab coffee or lunch with members of Quanta’s executive leadership team – not only because we’re conveniently in the same spot but because they are genuinely interested and invested in the work I’m doing. Quanta treats its employees very well, which has been great to experience.

What advice do you have for prospective students?

Don’t limit yourself to only considering internships that come to campus to recruit, especially if you are interested in roles outside of consulting or finance. Some of the most exciting opportunities out there are in less obvious places. Pretty much everyone I spoke to was interested in recruiting Rice MBA students or knew someone else that was. Reach out to your network, including the Rice network. And keep an open mind. You never know when breakfast with a friend could turn into a career opportunity!