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.

Decatur Utilities (the operating name of the Municipal Utilities Board of Decatur) caters to the power, gas, water, and wastewater needs of more than 30,000 residents (including 14,600 gas customers) of the city of Decatur, and Morgan County, in Alabama. In an area that experiences heavy rain, Decatur Utilities spends approximately $1 million each year to repair clay sewer pipe and brick manholes and other aging infrastructure. The Municipal Utilities Board of Decatur was created by the Alabama Legislature in 1939 to provide safe and reliable utility services to the city of Decatur.

IDACORP, Inc., through its subsidiary, Idaho Power Company, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, sale, and purchase of electric energy in the United States. It owns and operates 17 hydroelectric generating plants located in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon, as well as 2 natural gas-fired plants situated in southern Idaho; and owns interests in 3 coal-fired steam electric generating plants located in Wyoming, Nevada, and Oregon. As of December 31, 2009, the company supplied electric energy to approximately 490,000 general business customers involved in food processing, electronics and general manufacturing, forest products, beet sugar refining, and winter recreation industries. It had a network of approximately 4,796 pole miles of high-voltage transmission lines, 23 step-up transmission substations located at power plants, 22 transmission substations, 8 switching stations, 223 energized distribution substations, and approximately 26,675 pole miles of distribution lines. IDACORP, Inc., through its other subsidiaries, invests in housing and other real estate properties in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and has a 50% interest in 9 hydroelectric plants with a total generation capacity of 45 MW in Idaho and northern California. The company was founded in 1915 and is based in Boise, Idaho.

Pampa Energ�a is one of Argentina's largest fully integrated electricity companies. Through subsidiaries or co-controlled companies, it generates more than 7% of the total electricity in Argentina, transmits some 95% of the country's electricity through transmission lines owned and operated by subsidiary Transener, and distributes electricity to more than 2.6 million residential and commercial customers through subsidiary Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte (Edenor), the largest electricity distributor in Argentina. Pampa Energ�a maintains fossil fuel, thermal, and hydroelectric generation operations. Its distribution, transmission, and hydroelectric activities are regulated by Argentina's government.

Manitoba Hydro-Electric (commonly called Manitoba Hydro) provides electricity to 532,000 customers in the province of Manitoba. Its power is generated from hydroelectric facilities capable of producing about 32 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. Manitoba Hydro, which is owned by the government of Manitoba, also exports power to utilities and energy marketers in the US and other Canadian provinces. Through its Centra Gas subsidiary, the company distributes natural gas to 264,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in 100 communities in Manitoba.

Electricity, natural gas, and propane are the right energy mix to keep the customers of Florida Public Utilities happy. Florida Public Utilities Company serves more than 51,530 natural gas, 31,030 electricity, and more than 1,640 propane customers in southern, central, northwestern, and northeastern Florida. Florida Public Utilities buys its natural gas supply directly from marketers and producers and its electricity supply from nearby generating utilities; propane is purchased from wholesale suppliers. In 2009 Chesapeake Utilities acquired the company in a move that made Chesapeake Utilities a national player, and boosted the customer base of the combined companies to 200,000 in the Florida and Mid-Atlantic markets.

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.

The dryly named electric utility Electric Power Development Co. has a much more fun nickname -- J-POWER. With a generating capacity of 16,380 MW, the company supplies power used all over Japan. It has 67 hydroelectric plants, as well as some thermal and geothermal plants, and owns a transmission network that covers 2,400 km. J-POWER acts as a wholesale electric utility, selling to other electric power companies. Established by the Japanese government in 1952, J-POWER went through the privatization process, finally achieving full privatization and trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2004. The company is also sometimes referred to as EPDC.

Ratchaburi Electricity Generating is a powerful force. The company, known as Ratch, is Thailand's largest independent electric utility. Subsidiary Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Company runs the power plant, which has a total capacity of about 4,500 MW of electricity. Ratchaburi Energy Company, the other major subsidiary, funds smaller power plants and other power generating operations. Ratch also owns stakes in ethanol and natural gas companies and it participates in a joint venture with SouthEast Asia Energy to run a hydro-electricity plant in Laos. Established in 2000, the company is 45% owned by the Thai government via the EGAT Public Company.

The Dakota Electric Association delivers electricity to residents of southeastern Minnesota, the Gopher State , so they don't have to burrow underground for those long, cold winters. The member-owned utility serves more than 100,000 customers in portions of Dakota, Goodhue, Rice, and Scott counties south of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The co-op gets its power wholesale from transmission cooperative Great River Energy and distributes it over 3,720 miles of power lines, nearly two-thirds of which are buried. Dakota Electric is pushing energy efficiency programs and products to help save its customers money.

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