Public utility Green Mountain Power (GMP) lights up the hills of Vermont, supplying electricity to 95,000 customers in the state. The utility also markets wholesale electricity in New England. The company operates more than 4,720 miles of transmission and distribution lines and owns a minority stake in high-voltage transmission operator Vermont Electric Power (VELCO). GMP owns about 150 MW of capacity from hydroelectric and fossil-fueled power plants, but it purchases most of its power from other utilities. The company's long-term contracts with Vermont Yankee and Hydro-Quebec provide about 75% of GMP's power supply.

Questar Gas provides retail natural gas-distribution service to almost 900,000 customers in Utah, southwestern Wyoming and a small portion of southeastern Idaho. Questar Gas is regulated by the Public Service Commission of Utah and the Wyoming Public Service Commission. Historically, about half of the natural gas sold to Questar Gas retail customers comes from Questar-owned supplies that are typically more-stably priced than gas purchased from other suppliers. Questar Gas is also one of the most efficient natural gas utilities in the nation. As a result, rates paid by Questar Gas customers are traditionally among the lowest in the country. A Questar Gas predecessor began serving customers in 1929. In the decades since, there has never been a major natural gas service interruption.

Southern Californians soak up the sun, and the energy. The latter is where Southern California Public Power Authority comes in. The power authority generates and transmits electricity for 10 municipal distribution utilities and one irrigation district in southwestern California. Members include the municipal utilities of the cities Anaheim, Burbank, Colton, Glendale, Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Riverside. The authority has interests in three power plants and three transmission projects in the western US. It is constructing a fourth generation project. Southern California Public Power Authority also provides legislative representation and cost efficiency services to its members.

Targa Resources Corp., through its general and limited partner interests in Targa Resources Partners LP, provides midstream natural gas and natural gas liquid (NGL) services in the United States. It engages in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and selling natural gas; and storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling NGLs and NGL products. The company owns and operates approximately 11,169 miles of natural gas pipelines and approximately 800 miles of NGL pipelines, with natural gas gathering systems covering approximately 13,500 square miles and 21 natural gas processing plants with access to natural gas supplies in the Permian Basin, the Fort Worth Basin, the onshore region of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico. It sells its products to petrochemical manufacturers, refineries, multi-state retailers, and independent retailers. Targa Resources Corp. was founded in 2004 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Minnkota Power Cooperative keeps the juice flowing to power users in northwestern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota. The generation and transmission cooperative supplies electricity to its 11 member-owner distribution cooperatives, and, as operating agent for the Northern Municipal Power Agency, to 12 municipal systems, to serve more than 129,000 retail customers in a 34,500-sq.-mi. region. Minnkota owns and operates a 235 MW lignite coal-fired generation plant in Center, North Dakota; also at the site it operates the 455 MW Milton R. Young plant owned by Square Butte Cooperative. Minnkota is also pushing green power through its ownership stakes in two wind turbine projects.

Puget Energy is one of Washington State's largest utilities. Its electricity supply and transmission business, Puget Sound Energy, provides electricity to more than 1 million customers and natural gas to about 749,000 customers in western Washington. The utility owns fossil-fueled and hydroelectric plants as well as wind farms with a cumulative total of about 5,050 MW of capacity. In 2009, Puget Holdings LLC, a consortium led by Australian bank unit Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, acquired Puget Energy for $7.4 billion. The deal strengthens Puget Energy's access to cash to pay down debt and for future growth.

San Jose Water, the primary subsidiary of SJW, provides water utility services to approximately 225,000 customers (about 1 million people) in California's Santa Clara County. To obtain its water supply, San Jose Water taps wells and surface sources and buys water from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. It also collects local mountain surface water from the watershed in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which is then treated at San Jose Water's two treatment plants. This local surface water accounts for about 7% of the water utility's total supply. Purchased water accounts for more than 40%.

South Jersey Industries, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, transmission, and sale of natural gas for residential, commercial, and industrial customers. It also sells natural gas and pipeline transportation capacity on a wholesale basis to various customers on the interstate pipeline system, as well as transports natural gas purchased directly from producers or suppliers to their customers. It also markets natural gas storage, commodity, and transportation assets for energy marketers, electric and gas utilities, and natural gas producers in the mid-Atlantic and southern regions of the United States. In addition, the company develops and operates energy-related projects, which provide cooling, heating, and emergency power. Further, it provides services for the acquisition and transportation of natural gas and electricity for retail end users; markets total energy management services; installs and services residential and light commercial HVAC systems; provides plumbing services; and services appliances, as well as offers meter reading services. As of December 31, 2009, South Jersey Industries, Inc. served 343,566 residential, commercial, and industrial customers primarily in southern New Jersey. South Jersey Industries, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Folsom, New Jersey.

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.

SEMCO ENERGY is owned by energy investment firm Continental Energy Systems through its Cap Rock Holding unit. Alaska and Michigan have more in common than a cold climate. SEMCO ENERGY serves approximately 410,000 natural gas consumers in both states. The company's main subsidiary is utility SEMCO ENERGY Gas, which distributes gas to about 280,000 customers in 24 Michigan counties. SEMCO's ENSTAR Natural Gas unit distributes gas to about 130,000 customers in and around Anchorage, Alaska. The company's unregulated operations include propane distribution in Michigan and Wisconsin; pipeline and storage facility operation; and information technology outsourcing.

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