Portland General Electric (PGE) keeps many Birkenstock-shod feet warm: The company, formerly a subsidiary of Enron, generates, purchases, and distributes electricity to about 815,750 customers in Oregon. PGE's service territory covers 52 cities, including Portland and Salem. Its hydroelectric, coal-fired, and gas-fired plants had a generating capacity of more than 2,600 MW in 2009, and it purchased another 1,920 MW of generating capacity. PGE also markets wholesale electricity and natural gas to other utilities and marketers in the western US. In keeping with the "green" image of Portland residents, PGE leads the nation in residential customers who purchase power from renewable sources.

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity for industrial, residential, commercial, and rural customers primarily in the State of Parana, Brazil. It owns and operates 18 power plants, including 17 hydroelectric power plants and 1 thermal power plant with an installed capacity of 4,550 MW; transmission system comprising 1,913 km of transmission lines and 30 substations; and distribution system, including 180,696 km of distribution lines and 350 substations. The company serves approximately 3,671,262 consumers. It also provides telecommunication and communication services consisting of broadband Internet, private networks IP/MPLS-VPN, videoconference, and hosting services to schools, banks, supermarkets, Internet providers, industries, public bodies, stores, and fixed and mobile telephone operators. In addition, company has 6,026 km of OPGW cables, installed between the main ring and urban radials, totaling 10, 054 km and reaching 226 cities Parana. Further, it distributes piped gas. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Curitiba, Brazil.

Companhia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais provides water supply (for about 12 million people) and sewage treatment services in more than 600 municipalities in the country's state of Minas Gerais. Founded in 1963, COPASA serves customers such as private companies, government agencies, and individuals. The government of Minas Gerais established the company under the name Companhia Mineira de Água e Esgotos in order to enforce the sanitation policy for the state. COPASA receives payment for its services in the form a tariff, which takes into account customers' consumption ranges, as well as inflation.

NorthWestern, once a holding company for several energy-related businesses, is now blowing in one direction only -- providing power and gas through regulated utilites. Through its NorthWestern Energy subsidiary, the company provides electricity and natural gas to about 661,000 customers in Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota. In Montana it delivers electricity to approximately 335,000 customers in 187 communities and surrounding rural areas, 15 rural electric cooperatives, and in Wyoming to the Yellowstone National Park. NorthWestern delivers gas to 180,100 Montana customers. In Nebraska and South Dakota it sells natural gas to 85,5100 customers.

Alpiq (formerly Aare-Tessin Ltd. for Electricity, or Atel) is the largest supplier of electricity in Switzerland. It generates electricity by means of hydro, nuclear, and coal power, then trades and distributes it through its transmission grid across Switzerland and 28 other European countries. Its main markets include Italy, Germany, France, and countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Alpiq has 5,270 MW of generating capacity. The company also provides energy services including engineering, construction, and maintenance. Atel merged with fellow Swiss energy company EOS Holding in 2009 and became Alpiq. EOS owns 31% of the company; French energy giant EDF, 25%.

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.

Sharing power is not a threatening proposition for Southeastern Power Administration. The power distributor markets electricity generated at federal hydroelectric facilities (nearly 3,400 MW of capacity) to customers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The company's 495 preference wholesale customers (who serve more than 13 million consumers) are primarily municipal and cooperative utilities in the region. Southeastern Power Administration is an agency of the US Department of Energy, and its goal is to market electric power generated by Federal reservoir projects at the lowest possible cost to consumers.

Kelda is a Norse word meaning source of water, and Yorkshire consumers count on the UK's Kelda Group as the source for water and wastewater services. The group's primary subsidiary, Yorkshire Water Services, serves some 1.7 million residential customers, representing more than 4.8 million people, and approximately 130,000 business customers. Its Loop subsidiary provides customer relationship management services for Yorkshire Water and other utilities. In addition, Kelda is engaged in real estate development through its KeyLand unit which develops or disposies of brownfield sites. In 2008 Kelda was acquired by a consortium of investment companies made up of Citigroup, GIC, Infracapital and HSBC.

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) keeps the lights on in the Pacific Northwest. The US Department of Energy power marketing agency operates a transmission grid (with more than 15,000 miles of high-voltage lines) that delivers about 35% of the electrical power consumed in the region. The electricity that BPA wholesales is generated primarily by 31 federal hydroelectric plants and one private nuclear facility. BPA also purchases power from other hydroelectric, gas-fired, and wind and solar generation facilities in North America. Founded in 1937, BPA sells power to more than 140 primary customers, mainly public and investor-owned utilities in the Pacific Northwest.

Northwest Natural Gas Company stores and distributes natural gas in Oregon, Washington, and California. The company operates in two segments, Local Gas Distribution and Gas Storage. The Local Gas Distribution segment distributes natural gas in Oregon and southwest Washington. This segment engages in building and maintaining pipeline distribution system, purchasing gas from producers and marketers, contracting for the transportation of gas over pipelines from the supply basins to service territory, and reselling the gas to customers. It also transports gas owned by customers from the interstate pipeline connection, or city gate, to the customers’ facilities. This segment serves various industries, including pulp, paper, and other forest products; companies manufacturing electronic, electrochemical, and electrometallurgical products; companies engaged in processing of farm and food products; metal fabrication and casting companies; organizations that produce various mineral products, machine tools, machinery, and textiles; companies that manufacture asphalt, concrete, and rubber; printing and publishing companies; nurseries; government and educational institutions; and electric generation companies. As of December 31, 2009, it served approximately 668,000 total utility customers comprising approximately 605,000 residential, 62,000 commercial, and 1,000 industrial sales and transportation customers. The Gas Storage segment offers underground natural gas storage services to interstate and intrastate customers in the Pacific Northwest. It holds interests in approximately 8,500 net acres of underground natural gas storage in Oregon and approximately 1,900 net acres of underground natural gas storage in California; and interests in approximately 1,600 net acres of oil and gas leases in Oregon. This segment serves primarily natural gas distribution, electric generation, and energy marketing companies. Northwest Natural Gas Company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.