These electric cooperatives serve more than 750,000 residents, businesses, industries and farms in a 15,000 sq. ml. service area. It operates four electric power plants and a 1,450-mile trasmission system, and maintains the Tuttle Creek Reservoir in Southwest Indiana. Hoosier Energy is part of the Touchstone Energy network of electric cooperatives.Who's yer daddy? In terms of providing electricity, for many Indianans (and some residents of Illinois) that would be Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative, which provides wholesale electric power to 18 member distribution cooperatives in 48 central and southern Indiana counties, and 11 counties in southeastern Illinois.

The Chugoku Electric Power Co. makes western Japan shine. The company generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to more than 5.2 million customers in the Chugoku region of western Japan. Approximately 89% of its customers are residential, and commercial and industrial customers account for the rest. The company's 110 power plants generate about 11,800 MW; traditional thermal plants generate about 65% of its power. Chugoku Electric intends to increase its use of nuclear power and is also researching alternative energy sources. In response to Japan's electricity market liberalization, the group is entering new business markets, including consulting, construction, fuel supply, and telecommunications.

Minnesota Power can keep both Vikings and Packers warm. The utility, an operating unit of ALLETE, provides electricity to about 144,000 customers in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, as well as wholesale electricity to 16 municipal systems. Large industrial customers include Boise White Paper (a subsidiary of Boise Cascade) and Hibbing Taconite (a joint venture owned by ArcelorMittal, Cliffs, and US Steel). Its largest purchasing contract is with the Square Butte Electric Co-op in North Dakota -- Minnesota Power gets half of Square Butte's output -- but the company is attempting to transition from Square Butte's traditionally coal-generated energy to wind power.

Having access to power is the natural state in the Natural State, thanks to Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC), the sole wholesale power provider for 17 Arkansas electric distribution cooperatives. The company operates power plants with about 2,640 MW of generating capacity, owns transmission assets, and purchases wholesale power to meet its members' demands. Affiliate Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AECI) provides administrative and maintenance services to the distribution companies. The distribution utilities, which serve 490,000 customers throughout more than 60% of Arkansas' area, along with AECC and AECI, operate as the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.

Empire District Electric (EDE) has the sovereign authority to light up its territory. The utility transmits and distributes electricity to a population base of more than 450,000 (or about 215,000 direct customers) in southwestern Missouri and adjacent areas of Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. It also supplies water to three Missouri towns and natural gas throughout most of the state. EDE's interests in fossil-fueled and hydroelectric power plants give it a generating capacity of 1,257 MW; it also buys and sells power on the wholesale market. In addition, the company is pursuing nonregulated opportunities such as leasing capacity on its fiber-optic network.

EDP-Energias de Portugal, S.A. engages in the generation, supply, and distribution of electricity. It operates hydroelectric and thermal power stations, as well as wind, coal, and natural gas combined cycle power plants. EDP-Energia also involves in the supply and distribution of natural gas. It primarily operates in Portugal, Spain, France, Brazil, and the United States. EDP-Energia was incorporated in 1976 and is based in Lisbon, Portugal

Through its subsidiaries, the province-owned company transmits and distributes electricity to 1.3 million residential and commercial customers (including municipal utilities) in Ontario. Its primary utility subsidiaries are Hydro One Networks (transmission and distribution) and Hydro One Brampton Networks (electricity distributor to urban areas). Hydro One Telecom markets the group's fiber-optic capacity (broadband) to businesses, and Hydro One Remote Communities supplies energy to more than 20 remote areas in Ontario.

AEA Technology has hitched its wagon to the climate change star, focusing on government and private sector efforts to combat global warming, develop low-carbon processes, and monitor carbon and emissions trading. AEA Technology offers consulting, program management, and emergency response services for commercial, government, and industrial customers. Other areas of expertise include agriculture, health, business innovation, and transport. It is a major provider of advisory services to the UK government on climate change issues and technologies.

Shikoku Electric Power, like the island it serves, is making bridges to new areas. One of 10 regional electric utilities licensed by the Japanese government to generate, transmit, and distribute power, Shikoku (known as Yonden in Japan) provides electricity to more than 4 million people in the four prefectures of Shikoku. The company has a generating capacity of more than 6,660 MW, primarily from nuclear and fossil-fueled plants; however, Shikoku is converting some of its oil-fueled plants to liquefied natural gas. Shikoku has expanded beyond its power utility business into activities such as Internet access, cable TV, remote monitoring and control systems, and rest homes for the elderly.

United Utilities Group PLC, through its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, operation, and maintenance of water and wastewater networks in the United Kingdom and internationally. It supplies water covering a population of approximately 7 million people, and 2.9 million households and business premises; and involves in the collection and treatment of wastewater through a network of 43,419 kilometers of sewers. The company also operates electricity distribution network, and high voltage networks for businesses; and gas distribution network, as well as pipes and the equipment used to pump, condition, and store gas. In addition, United Utilities Group PLC provides consulting services and project management services; property management services; multi-utility metering operations and metering installation services; technical and management services; and asset management services. The company was formerly known as United Utilities Newco Limited and changed its name to United Utilities Group PLC in April 2008. United Utilities Group PLC was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Warrington, the United Kingdom.

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