Privatization is the light at the end of the tunnel for Companhia Energetica de Sao Paulo, one of Brazil's largest power generators. Known as CESP, the company is the largest generator of electricity used in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo. CESP's six hydroelectric facilities (57 generation units) have a capacity of more than 7,456 MW. It gets most of its revenues from distribution utilities. Sao Paulo state government-controlled CESP previously had 22 power plants, but it spun off two generating companies and a transmission company in 1999. The slimmer CESP was targeted for auction, but the state government postponed the sale. CESP is restructuring its debt and is focusing on operational efficiency.

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.

Water is delivered by Mediterranea delle Acque (formed by the early 2006 merger of Italian water utilities Ferrari -- Acquedotto De Ferrari Galliera, Acquedotto Nicolay, Acqua Italia, and Genova Acque. Prior to the merger Acquedotto De Ferrari Galliera delivered about 45 million cubic meters (1.5 billion cubic feet) of water annually to about 350,000 customers. The company is also is involved in firefighting services, electricity sales, and water well-drilling. Rome-based utility AMGA owns 68% of the company.

Trans-Elect has elected itself as a cross-border power company. The independent transmission company owns and operates about 12,600 miles of high-voltage power lines in portions of Canada and the US. The company acts as a wholesale provider of electricity to distribution companies. It operates the former transmission assets of of US utility Consumers Energy; it is also part of an international consortium that operates the former transmission assets of Canadian power distributor TransAlta. The acquisitions were the first of their kind in the deregulating North American electricity market. Trans-Elect is also involved in several expansion projects in congested areas of the US grid.

Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) is committed to redoubling efforts to serve this Florida city with three double letters in its name. KUA operates the municipal power distribution system serving 62,000 commercial and industrial, and residential customers in Kissimmee and surrounding areas. It also offers its customers internet, telephone, and security services. In addition, the community-owned utility has stakes in some power generation units. The century-old company is used to managing operations in a hurricane prone area. In 2009 the company piloted a 4-day working week option for its employees as a way to bring down costs.

Midwest Energy for their power and gas needs. The utility serves approximately 48,000 electricity customers and 42,000 natural gas customers in central and western Kansas. It also has some power generation operations; it purchases most of its electric supply from wholesale marketers. The company's Midwest United Energy subsidiary is a competitive natural gas supplier in four states, and its WestLand Energy unit sells propane to Kansas consumers; it has sold its telecommunications business. Midwest Energy was formed in 1981 when the Central Kansas Electric Cooperative acquired investor-owned Central Kansas Power.

Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation provides power to more than 67,000 members located in 10 counties (Burke, Catawba, Caldwell, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk and Rutherford) in the Southwestern Piedmont region of North Carolina. The cooperative (which had a membership of only 394 in 1938, but grew rapidly after WWII) owns and maintains about 7,000 miles of power line. Rutherford Electric has total assets of more than $300 million. The cooperative is a member of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives network.

Caithness region might well serve as an inspiration for Caithness Corp., which develops wind and other renewable power plants in the US under the Caithness Energy brand. Although the firm has focused on the development, acquisition, operation, and management of geothermal, hydroelectric, wind, and solar energy power projects, it also develops environmentally friendly fossil-fueled plants. Caithness is one of the largest producers of renewable energy in the US, and has developed more than 350 MW of geothermal projects, 160 MW of solar plants, and 440 MW produced by wind turbines. On the cleaner fossil fuel plant side it has also developed more than 2,000 MW of gas-turbine powered capacity.

Veolia Water Central Limited provides water to more than 3.5 million customers. Veolia Water Central provides water services to a number of counties (including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, and Surrey, as well as the London boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Harrow, and Hillingdon). The company is a subsidiary of Veolia Environnement, a France-based utility and environmental services giant. Veolia Water Central traces its origins back some 130 years.

Connexus Energy connects more Minnesotans to electricity than any other cooperative. The member-operated organization distributes power to more than 123,000 customers in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Connexus buys its power from generation and transmission cooperative Great River Energy and distributes it through more than 9,050 miles of power line. It also operates 43 electrical substations. Residential customers account for the bulk of sales in a territory that comprises parts of Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Sherburne, and Washington counties.

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