Lincoln Electric System (LES) takes care of all of the power needs for residents and businesses in Lincoln, Nebraska. The company generates, purchases, transmits, and distributes electricity for approximately 128,130 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Lincoln and surrounding communities. LES has interests in fossil-fueled power plants and wind energy facilities; the utility also purchases power through contracts with other generation utilities, such as the Nebraska Public Power District and the Western Area Power Administration, and it markets power to wholesale customers.

TransAlta has transformed itself from one of Canada's largest electric utilities into a global independent power producer with assets in Australia, Canada, and the US. The company has about about 8,990 MW of operational generating capacity. It trades and markets electricity and gas in Canada and the US. Most of TransAlta's generating capacity is coal-fired; the rest comes from gas-fired, hydroelectric, and alternative-energy plants. TransAlta has sold its regulated distribution and transmission businesses to focus on power generation and marketing, primarily to industrial and wholesale customers. The company has more than 80 power plants in Australia, Canada, and the US.

Brookfield Renewable Power (formerly Brookfield Power) produces electricity for the Americas. The power generating and marketing operations of its parent company Brookfield Asset Management operates 166 hydroelectric generating facilities in the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia (a total of 32 generating stations), as well as in the US (100), and Brazil (34). Brookfield Renewable Power is also developing wind power facilities to complement its hydroelectric power activities. It operates the 189 MW capacity Prince Wind project, the largest wind farm in Canada. The company has more than 4,200 MW of installed capacity.

Southern Company isn't just whistling Dixie. The holding company is one of the largest electricity distributors in the US. It operates regulated utilities Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, and Mississippi Power, which combined have a generating capacity of more than 42,900 MW and serve more than 4.4 million electricity customers in the southeastern US. The good ol' power company also has energy marketing operations, and it provides energy consulting and management services for businesses and institutions. Through its Southern LINC Wireless unit, it provides wireless communications services in its US utility territory; its Southern Telecom unit offers wholesale fiber-optic services.

Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County, Washington (or Chelan County PUD) provides power and water to residents of the county located in the middle of the Evergreen State. The utility operates three hydroelectric-generation facilities on or near the Columbia River that have a combined capacity of about 2,000 MW. About 30% of the district's electricity goes to its more than 47,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers; the rest is sold wholesale to other utilities operating in the northwestern US. Chelan County PUD also provides water and wastewater services to about 5,700 customers.

A company so nice they named it twice is doubling its efforts to deliver power. NRG Energy, a leading power producer with a generating capacity of about 24,500 MW (including 345 MW from renewable energy), is moving onward and upward. The vast majority of NRG's power plants are in North America, but it also has one in Australia and one in Germany. The company's global portfolio includes about 190 generation units at 47 power plants. It also markets natural gas, oil, and other commodities, and invests in district heating and cooling and alternative energy projects. Its retail unit, Reliant Energy, distributes power to more than 1.6 million residential, business, commercial, and industrial customers in Texas.

Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation (SLEMCO) is no slowpoke when it comes to serving more than 93,400 power customers in eight Louisiana parishes. SLEMCO provides regulated power transmission and distribution services via 9,000 miles of power lines to its residential, commercial, and industrial members. It also provides energy conservation and street and security lighting services. SLEMCO extended assistance to help repair the badly damaged infrastructure in parishes from New Orleans to the Mississippi border following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Associated Electric Cooperative makes the connection between power and cooperatives. The utility provides transmission and generation services to its six member/owner companies, which in turn provide power supply services to 51 distribution cooperatives in three Midwest states. (The distribution cooperatives have a combined customer count of more than 875,000.) Associated Electric operates 9,520 miles of power transmission lines and has about 5,240 MW of generating capacity from interests in primarily coal- and gas-fired power plants and from wholesale energy transactions with other regional utilities.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) is prepared to serve an entire island nation. Founded in 1941, the government-owned utility is the sole electricity distributor for Puerto Rico, where it serves approximately 1.4 million residential and business customers. PREPA owns five primarily fossil-fueled power plants that give it nearly 5,800 MW of generating capacity, and it has more than 30,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines. In order to keep up with increasing demand, the Puerto Rican government has allowed independent power producers to build cogeneration plants on the island to sell power to PREPA.

Deseret Power is a regional generation and transmission cooperative meeting the power requirements of its six member retail systems, and selling surplus power to municipalities, power marketers and other wholesale electric systems in five states.Beginning with a 25.1% interest in the Hunter II power plant, Deseret has grown into an integrated power producer in Utah. With corporate offices in South Jordan, Utah, Deseret owns 223 miles of transmission lines and 550 MW of generation. Deseret's primary generating resource, the Bonanza Power Plant is consistently ranked in the top environmentally clean coal fired plants in the U.S. and was the number one plant for availability in 2001 and 2002.As a cooperative, Deseret is owned by its six member systems: Bridger Valley Electric, Dixie Escalante, Flowell Electric, Garkane Energy, Moon Lake Electric, and Mt. Wheeler Power. Deseret's cooperative organization, combined with its vertical integration, positions Deseret to provide member/owners, partners and customers of all sizes competitive and stable power rates.

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