Nicor Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in natural gas distribution business in the United States. Nicor Inc. distributes natural gas to approximately 2.2 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in northern Illinois. It also provides natural gas storage and transmission-related services to marketers and other gas distribution companies. The company’s gas distribution, transmission, and storage network includes approximately 34,000 miles of steel, plastic, and cast iron main; approximately 2.0 million steel, plastic/aluminum composite, plastic, and copper services connecting the mains to customers’ premises; and 8 underground storage fields. In addition, Nicor offers shipping services, including the transportation of containerized freight between Florida, the eastern coast of Canada, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean region. It transports building materials, and food and other necessities for developers, manufacturers, and residents in the Caribbean and the Bahamas; tourist-related shipments intended for use in hotels and resorts, and on cruise ships; and interisland shipments and northbound shipments of apparel and agricultural products, as well as provides inland transportation and cargo insurance services. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated a fleet of 11 owned vessels and 4 chartered vessels with a container capacity totaling approximately 5,270 Twenty-foot equivalent units. Further, it owns and/or leases containers, container-handling equipment, chassis, and other equipment. Additionally, Nicor involves in the marketing of energy-related products and services, including warranty and maintenance contracts, as well as repair and installation services of heating, air conditioning and indoor air-quality equipment, and customer move connection services for other utilities; and wholesale marketing of natural gas supply services. Nicor Inc. was founded in 1953 and is based in Naperville, Illinois.

Companhia de Transmissao de Energia Eletrica Paulista is a true power broker. The company, known as both CTEEP and Transmissao Paulista, delivers power to the state of Sao Paulo. Its 12,140 kilometers of power lines and 100 substations transmit 30% of the electricity consumed in Brazil. Transmissao Paulista also participates in research and development projects with other utilities as well as universities and research centers. The company, which is part of Latin American power player Grupo Empresarial ISA, was formed in 1999 after the restructuring of Brazilian electric utilities that split power generation, transmission, and distribution into separate companies.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) keeps away malaise as it electrifies Malaysia. The largest power company in Southeast Asia, TNB generates two-thirds of the electricity on the Malaysian Peninsula. The company has a generating capacity of more than 11,940 MW; it also operates the national power transmission and distribution grid, which serves more than 7 million residential, industrial, and commercial customers. A host of subsidiaries support TNB's business; they include power equipment manufacturing, engineering, and real estate companies. Although Malaysia's power industry is undergoing deregulation, TNB has successfully resisted efforts to split up the company, which is 38%-owned by Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Egad, EGAT, that's a lot of juice. The state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) produces more than 15,000 MW of electricity and buys another 10,600 MW from independent power producers. EGAT not only generates or buys most of the nation's power, it holds a monopoly on transmission to the distributors (Metropolitan Electricity Authority and Provincial Electricity Authority). The utility operates hydroelectric, thermal, and alternative power plants, and provides engineering, maintenance, and other energy-related services. EGAT has also announced plans to expand into telecommunications and natural gas, and to acquire coal mining assets in Indonesia.

SCS Tracer Environmental traces its financial success to its large portfolio of environmental engineering, consulting, and monitoring services. Among the firm's specialties are ambient air monitoring, counter-terrorism support, environmental advisory services and environmental construction, permitting and compliance, and risk management and safety, and research and development. In addition to private sector clients, the company also works on contracts for the federal government. SCS Tracer's staff includes atmospheric scientists, engineers, and meteorologists. The firm was named Tracer Environmental Sciences & Technologies until being acquired by SCS Engineers in late 2009.

Tokyo Gas Co. is Japan's #1 gas co. Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. produces and distributes natural gas to nearly 10 million households in Japan's Kanto region, which encompasses Tokyo and the surrounding area. Its gas pipeline network exceeds 50,000 kms. The company also provides district heating and cooling, operates LNG (liquefied natural gas) tankers and terminals, manages real estate properties, provides utility construction services, develops and sells gas appliances, and distributes gas in Malaysia. Tokyo Gas imports LNG and is participating in upstream development projects. To help pay down debt related its purchase of Union Fenosa in 2009 Gas Natural sold power assets in Mexico to Tokyo Gas and Mitsui for $1.2 billion.

Founded in 2001 by partners David Hernandez, Eliezer Hernandez and Alberto Daire, Liberty Power has grown to serve tens of thousands of customers including small and mid–sized businesses, large Fortune 500 accounts, and government entities on a national level.

Ormat Technologies is on an environmentally safe power trip, building geothermal as well as recovered energy power plants. Geothermal technology extracts hot water or steam that is vaporized and used to drive turbines. The fluid is then cooled and recycled back through the process, making it a clean and renewable energy source. Recovered energy utilizes heat produced in other industrial processes. The company, set up by Israel-based Ormat Industries, also sells power units for both types of plants, and sells fossil fuel powered turbo-generators with a capacity of between 400 watts and 4,000 watts. Ormat operates power plants (with a total of 518 MW of power) in Guatemala (2), Kenya, Nicaragua, and the US (10).

Xcel Energy has accelerated its energy engine into utility markets across the US. The utility holding company distributes electricity to 3.4 million customers and natural gas to 1.9 million in eight states; Colorado and Minnesota account for the majority of its customers. Its regulated utilities -- Northern States Power, Public Service Company of Colorado, and Southwestern Public Service -- have more than 20,500 MW of primarily fossil-fueled generating capacity. Xcel also has 35,200 miles of natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines. Pushing green energy sources, in 2008 Xcel announced that it would develop solar-generated power plants in Colorado as part of its green energy initiative.

Wheelabrator Technologies is on a roll. A subsidiary of solid-waste processing giant Waste Management, the company operates municipal-waste incinerators and trash-to-steam plants that convert 7 million tons of municipal solid waste annually into energy. Wheelabrator operates 16 waste-to-energy plants that burn solid waste to produce high-pressure steam; that steam turns turbines, generating more than 800 MW of electricity -- enough to power more than 900,000 homes. It also has five independent power producers (IPPs) that combust a combination of trash, waste wood, tires, coal, and gas to generate another 200 MW of electricity. Wheelabrator operates in the northeastern US, California, Florida, and Washington.

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