United Water International, founded in 1995, is one of the largest water utility companies operating in towns and cities in both Australia and New Zealand (including major centers such as Adelaide, Ballarat, and Auckland). United Water International operates and maintains water and wastewater treatment plants as well as customer call centers. All told, the company serves somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 million customers. United Water International is owned by Halliburton unit KBR, and Veolia Environnement.

RPG Enterprises has more than 20 companies that span energy, retail, manufacturing, technology, and entertainment. The company's primary operations include electricity generation and distribution (through CESC Limited and Noida Power) and utility and telecommunications infrastructure development, as well as carbon black production and tire manufacturing. Other operations include supermarkets (Spencer's Hypermarket), retail music and health and beauty stores, software, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and music recording businesses. RPG Enterprises is controlled by the Goenka family; the company was formed in 1979 to hold the family's diversified business interests.

Environmental Waste Controls (EWC) slows down the fill-up of UK landfills. The company leases and sells waste-compactor equipment and provides maintenance services for the compactors. It also collects, transports, and recycles or disposes of waste for its 400-plus public- and private-sector customers, which include manufacturing and retail companies, food processors, hotels (such as Hilton and Radisson Hotels), railway stations, National Health Service Trusts, and local governments. The company was the subject of a management buyout in 2004. EWC was founded in 1993.

Union Gas has a habit of bringing natural gas and energy consumers together. The utility, a subsidiary of midstream maven Spectra Energy transmits and distributes natural gas to more than 1.3 million residential and business customers in more than 400 communities throughout most of the Canadian province of Ontario. It also provides gas transportation and storage services for other utilities and businesses in Canada and the US. Union Gas operates 3,000 miles of transmission pipeline, 37,000 miles of distribution main and service pipeline, and 22 underground storage facilities.

PPL packs a powerful punch in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and the UK, where it distributes electricity to 5.2 million customers through regulated subsidiaries PPL Electric Utilities (1.4 million customers), two utilities in Kentucky (1.2 million), and Western Power Distribution Holdings (2.6 million electricity customers). The company has 19,000 MW of generating capacity and also sells energy wholesale in key US markets. Once a global power player with interests in distribution companies worldwide, the company has opted for the UK as its non-US focus. Western Power Distribution operates two of the 15 distribution networks providing electricity service in the UK -- WPD (South West) and WPD (South Wales).

Public Utility District No. 1 of Cowlitz County, Washington (or Cowlitz County Public Utility District), a Depression era institution that provides electric utility services to 47,400 customers (including 42,400 residential customers and 5,200 commercial clients) in its service territory. The municipal utility also serves more than 3,800 Longview-Kelso area water utility customers. Like 27 other PUDs in Washington state, Cowlitz County Public Utility District has the authority to offer electric, water, wastewater, and wholesale telecommunication service.

National Fuel Gas Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Utility, Pipeline and Storage, Exploration and Production, and Energy Marketing. The Utility segment sells natural gas or provides natural gas transportation services to approximately 727,000 customers in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Jamestown, New York; and Erie and Sharon, Pennsylvania. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation and storage services for affiliated and nonaffiliated companies through an integrated gas pipeline system; and 27 underground natural gas storage fields, as well as 4 other underground natural gas storage fields owned and operated jointly with other interstate gas pipeline companies. This segment also transports natural gas for industrial customers and power producers in New York State. It owns the Empire Pipeline, a 157-mile pipeline; and the Empire Connector, which is a 76-mile pipeline extension. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration for, and the development and purchase of natural gas and oil reserves in California, in the Appalachian region of the United States, and in the Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana. As of September 30, 2009, this segment had proved developed and undeveloped reserves of 46,587 thousand barrels of oil and 248,954 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. The Energy Marketing segment markets natural gas to industrial, wholesale, commercial, public authority, and residential customers primarily in western and central New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. National Fuel Gas company also develops and operates mid-range independent power production and landfill gas electric generation facilities. National Fuel Gas Company was founded in 1902 and is based in Williamsville, New York.

Xcel Energy has accelerated its energy engine into utility markets across the US. The utility holding company distributes electricity to 3.4 million customers and natural gas to 1.9 million in eight states; Colorado and Minnesota account for the majority of its customers. Its regulated utilities -- Northern States Power, Public Service Company of Colorado, and Southwestern Public Service -- have more than 20,500 MW of primarily fossil-fueled generating capacity. Xcel also has 35,200 miles of natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines. Pushing green energy sources, in 2008 Xcel announced that it would develop solar-generated power plants in Colorado as part of its green energy initiative.

A2A S.p.A. municipal multi-utility supplies electricity, natural gas, and water and wastewater services to customers, mostly in the province of Milan. A2A's units operate power-generation plants with some 3,700 MW of capacity),. The company distributes electricity and natural gas to regulated customers, and wholesale electricity and gas to buyers. It also owns a fiber-optic network that covers the city. A2A is also a leading environmental service company, treating some 2.9 million tonnes of waste material.

Catalytic Combustion Corporation clears the air -- literally and alliteratively. The company makes systems, processes, and products to help customers eliminate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants in order to meet air-quality standards. Catalytic Combustion's catalysts -- substances that accelerate the rate of chemical reactions -- are used in a host of industries and products, ranging from appliances to graphic arts to nuclear power plants. The company makes catalysts from materials such as ceramics, metal foil, and wire mesh. Catalytic Combustion was founded in 1950.

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