STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) is pulling out all the stops to make sure that the lights burn brightly in the Lone Star State. The company manages the South Texas Project Electric Generating Station on a 12,220-acre site near Bay City, Texas. The nuclear power plant's two reactors, which went into operation in 1988 and in 1989, produce about 2,700 MW of electricity and serve 2 million homes in Texas. The company is jointly owned by NRG Energy (44%), CPS Energy (40%), and Austin Energy (16%). STPNOC accounts for about 7.5% of the power consumed in Texas.

First Electric Cooperative wasn't the first electric cooperative ever formed, but it was the first such entity created in its home state. The member-owned utility distributes power to more than 85,000 customers in 17 central and southeastern Arkansas counties. It also offers its members a range of energy products and value-added services, including energy efficient Marathon water heaters, surge and lightning protection equipment, and compact fluorescent light bulbs. Some 72% of the cooperative's revenues come from residential customers; commercial and industrial customers account for another 20%, and the rest comes from such sources as irrigation and street lighting.

Marsulex is scrubbing up smokestacks in North America. The company provides outsourced air-quality regulation compliance services to the oil refinery and power generation industries. Among Marsulex's emission-control products are spent acid regeneration and sulphate scrubbing systems; the firm also processes and sells sulphur by-products. Customers in Marsulex's oil-refinery segment include Shell, Petro-Canada, BP, and Sunoco. The company provides services to power-generation customers worldwide. Marsulex operates seven plants in Canada and ten in the US, including one in Southern California. In 2009 investment firm Harrowston Holding acquired control of Marsulex.

FERSA Energias Renovables has found being green isn't too difficult. The Spanish holding company invests in and operates companies that produce electricity utilizing such renewable energy resources as wind power, solar energy, and biomass. The company's holdings span the European continent with investments in wind farms in Spain, Estonia, and Italy as well as holdings in Panama, India, and China. Holdings include Eolica el Pedregoso, Elolica de Pino, Parque Eolico Hinojal, Enrilews, and OU Est Wind Power. The company also has holdings in solar power and biomass operations in Spain through Invetem Mediterranea and Gestora Fotovoltaica de Castellon.

Brookfield Renewable Power (formerly Brookfield Power) produces electricity for the Americas. The power generating and marketing operations of its parent company Brookfield Asset Management operates 166 hydroelectric generating facilities in the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia (a total of 32 generating stations), as well as in the US (100), and Brazil (34). Brookfield Renewable Power is also developing wind power facilities to complement its hydroelectric power activities. It operates the 189 MW capacity Prince Wind project, the largest wind farm in Canada. The company has more than 4,200 MW of installed capacity.

Kenergy kens energy, as the Scots might say. Electric distribution cooperative Kenergy serves about 55,000 customers in 14 counties (Breckinridge, Caldwell, Crittenden, Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, Hopkins, Livingston, Lyon, McLean, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Union and Webster) in Western Kentucky. Kenergy serves its customer base of households, commercial enterprises, and industries via more than 6,700 miles of power lines. The customer-owned company is part of Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, a national alliance of more than 600 local, consumer-owned electric utility cooperatives.

Marietta Board of Lights and Water (doing business as Marietta Power and Water) to provide electricity and water to residents and businesses in the city of Marietta, and the counties of Marietta and Cobb. The municipal utility operates through two divisions: Marietta Power distributes electricity to more than 45,000 customers and purchases power from the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power), and Marietta Water provides water supply and wastewater collection services to more than 17,000 customers.

China Three Gorges Project Corporation (CTGPC) is building the world's largest hydropower project -- the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River. Located near the Xilingxia gorge, a 185-meter-high project dam controls a drainage area of 1 million square km and an average annual runoff of 451 billion cubic meters. Construction on the massive project broke ground in 1994 and is expected to formally wrap up in late 2008. Subsidiary China Yangtze Power was set up in 2002 to manage two power plants, Gezhouba and Three Gorges. In 2009, in a major cash infusion, this unit paid its parent for the remaining 18 generators at the Three Gorges project.

Let's cut right to the point: construction materials and mining used to be the lifeblood of Knife River Corporation, but in recent years, its energy and utility operations have grown to be the largest portion of its business. Oil and natural gas production, power transmission, pipelines and power utilities now dominate Knife River's balance sheet. But don't count out its construction services division, which continues to produce record earnings. Knife River has operations in Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming. The company is a subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, Inc.

Western Farmers Electric Cooperative did the generation and transmission cooperative produces more than 1,400 MW of capacity at its coal and natural gas fueled generating plants, with two in Anadarko, one in Mooreland and one in Hugo. The cooperative pipes the juice over 3,500 miles of transmission lines to two-thirds of rural Oklahoma. Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, which is owned by its member distribution cooperatives, supplies 19 distribution co-ops and Altus Air Force base, which serve a combined half-million members.

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