Before he led Exelon, Calvin Butler learned to run a factory shift. The lesson still follows him: understand what people need, then make the position useful.

He spent years advising utilities before taking responsibility for the pipes. Now American Water’s CEO is testing how far a bigger company can go toward solving a very local problem.

His father helped keep Consumers Energy in step with environmental rules. Now Garrick Rochow runs the company, with a harder assignment: change how Michigan gets its power while keeping the lights on.