The Native American inhabitants of Georgia may have used flint to spark the fires that brought light to their dwellings. Central Georgians today rely on the Flint Electric Membership Corporation, which does business as Flint Energies, to light their homes. Flint Energies serves 250,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers (through 82,500 meters) in 17 counties, Fort Benning, and the city of Warner Robins. The customer-owned cooperative operates more than 6,250 miles of distribution line and about 50 substations. Flint Energies first flicked the switch in 1937.

ALLETE provides light to the northern climes. Most of its business is classified within its regulated operations, which include electric, gas, and water utilities located in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. Those operations are conducted through subsidiaries Minnesota Power (about 145,000 customers) and Superior Water, Light and Power (about 35,000 customers for its electric, gas, and water utilities). ALLETE's other segment includes coal mining operations, emerging technologies related to electric utilities, and a real estate business (large land tracts in Florida). Subsidiary BNI Coal operates a mine in North Dakota that supplies, primarily, two generating co-ops, Minnkota Power and Square Butte.

Down by the riverside there's power, and City of Riverside, California, Electric Utility (which does business as Riverside Public Utilities) distributes it to more than 105,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers and water to more than 63,000 customers in Riverside, California. The municipal electric utility has interests in power plants (partly through its membership in the Southern California Public Power Authority), and it buys and sells wholesale power. City of Riverside, California, Electric Utility also owns water wells and treatment facilities.

New Jersey Natural Gas is the prinicipal subsidiary of New Jersey Resources, a Fortune 1000 company, which provides reliable energy and natural gas services including transportation, distribution, and asset management in states from the Gulf Coast to the New England regions, including the Mid-Continent region, the West Coast and Canada, while investing in and maintaining an extensive infrastructure to support future growth. With over $2.5 billion in annual revenues, NJR safely and reliably operates and maintains 6,700 miles of natural gas transportation and distribution infrastructure to serve nearly half a million customers; develops and manages a diverse portfolio of more than 777,000 dth/d of transportation capacity and 52 Bcf of storage capacity; and provides appliance installation, repair and contract service to approximately 150,000 homes and businesses. Additionally, NJR holds investments in midstream assets through equity partnerships including Steckman Ridge and Iroquois. Through Conserve to Preserve®, NJR is helping customers save energy and money by promoting conservation and encouraging efficiency.

Southern Pine Electric Power Association (Southern Pine EPA) delivers the consumer-owned utility cooperative that serves about 65,000 members in south central Mississippi. The cooperative provides power over more than 10,000 miles of line to some 60,400 residential meters and 4,600 commercial meters. A board of directors, elected by Southern Pine EPA membership, sets the policies and establishes the business structure of the organization, which is led on a day-to-day operational basis by a general manager. Southern Pine EPA established four district offices in 1994 to enable the cooperative to better serve its large service area.

Pennichuck Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the collection, storage, treatment, and distribution of potable water for domestic, industrial, commercial, and fire protection service in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The company also provides non-regulated water management services, including monitoring, maintenance, testing, and compliance reporting services for water systems of various towns, businesses, and residential communities. In addition, Pennichuck Corporation involves in real estate management and commercialization activities. The company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

Veolia Environnement holds water -- as well as waste management, energy, and transportation -- operations. The company's Veolia Eau unit, which provides water and wastewater services to more than 80 million people in more than 60 countries, is the world's largest water company, ahead of SUEZ Environnement. Veolia Environmental Services, one of the world's leading waste management companies, serves more than 70 million people a year. Majority-owned energy unit Dalkia (Veolia Energy Services) operates global cogeneration facilities and heating and cooling systems, and Veolia Transport (formerly Connex) is a top European provider of bus, light-rail, and rail transport and operates in about 30 countries.

Massive power resource, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) provides power supply services to its members -- 23 of the state's 40 municipal utilities (28 utilities are also participants in MMWEC power supply projects). The power supplier has about 715 MW of generating capacity from interests in fossil-fueled and nuclear power plants in the northeastern US, and it negotiates bulk electricity purchases from other generators for its members. MMWEC is the operator and principal owner of the Stony Brook Energy Center, a 520 MW, combined-cycle intermediate and peaking generating station in Ludlow, Massachusetts.

The Jersey Electricity Company is the sole distributor of electricity services to Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. The company's services include electricity supply and a range of building services (mechanical, plumbing, design, air-conditioning, facilities management). It also offers equipment, including space and water heaters, heat pumps, and air-conditioning and refrigeration units. It sells retail appliances through its Powerhouse store. The company has diversified into mobile phones and computers but has sold its JET telecommunications business. Jersey's government controls the utility.

Delta Natural Gas Company, Inc. distributes or transports natural gas in central and southeastern Kentucky. It operates through two segments, Regulated and Non-Regulated. The Regulated segment sells and distributes natural gas to its retail customers primarily in 23 rural counties. This segment also transports gas to industrial customers on its system who purchase gas in the open market, as well as transports gas on behalf of local producers and other customers not on its distribution system. The Non-Regulated segment purchases natural gas in the open market, primarily from Kentucky producers, and resells this gas to industrial customers on its distribution system and to others not on its system. This segment also produces natural gas that is sold to Delgasco for resale in the open market. Delta Natural Gas Company, Inc. owns approximately 2,500 miles of natural gas gathering, transmission, distribution, storage, and service lines; and holds leases for the storage of natural gas under 8,000 acres located in Bell County, Kentucky. It serves approximately 37,000 customers. Delta Natural Gas Company, Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Winchester, Kentucky.

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