The public utility sector is a vast and intricate enterprise that includes everything from sewage treatment to trash collection and power delivery. It plays a crucial role in our economy, and the businesses operating in this industry are some of the most significant.
Utility examples include large enterprises offering various services and specialist businesses focusing on wind energy and other services. We are investigating which corporations work in public utilities, even though the utility industry is home to numerous state-controlled businesses that prosper.
The top 20 public utility corporations are listed in this article. These companies are all major players in their respective areas and provide a wide range of goods and services.
1. American Electric Power
American Electric Power (AEP) is one of the biggest public utility corporations in the U.S. and a top electricity supplier. More than five million consumers are served by AEP, its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. AEP has more than 17,000 employees and brings in more than $10 billion annually.
In its early years, AEP was known as the American Gas and Electric Company (AG&E). The business has continuously expanded over the years, expanding its service area and purchasing other smaller utilities. AEP changed its name to reflect its emphasis on the production and distribution of electric power in 1952. AEP is a Fortune 500 company today with a strong commitment to providing its consumers with safe, dependable, and cheap electricity. They own and manage a broad portfolio of power-generating facilities, including nuclear, hydroelectric, coal-fired, and natural gas-fired ones. The business is also among the biggest U.S. electricity transporters.
2. Essential Utilities Inc
American water and wastewater utility firm Essential Utilities Inc. Up until 2020, it was known as Aqua America. It was established in 1886 as the Springfield Water Company and had its main office in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. They provide drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure services.
Before finally adopting the name Essential Utilities, the company’s name underwent many changes. Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, and other states in the U.S. are among those where the corporation conducts business.
The company now employs approximately 3100 people. They made US$1,878M in sales in 2021 alone. Their most substantial subsidiary is Aqua Pennsylvania. Its non-utility subsidiary, Aqua Resources, Inc., is unregulated.
3. Verizon
American internet and telecommunications business Verizon Communications Inc. Its corporate headquarters are located in New York City, and it was established in 1983 to replace Bell Atlantic Corporation. Both home and business consumers can use the company’s services.
As of Q1 2022, Verizon had about 143 million users, placing it among the top 3 telecom providers in the country. The business is among the biggest in terms of landline telephone services in the U.S..
Subsidiaries of the corporation include BlueJeans, Visible, Skywalk, Verizon Connect, and Verizon Fios, among others. Around 118,000 people are employed by it as of 2021, generating $133.61 billion in sales. Verizon is ranked 54th among Fortune 500 firms as of 2022.
4. Pacific Gas & Electric Company
One of the biggest integrated natural gas and electric utilities in the U.S. is Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a division of PG&E Corporation. The corporation, which has 20,000 workers and is based in San Francisco, provides some of the cleanest electricity to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. PG&E National Energy Group, Inc., Pacific Gas and Electric Company, PG&E Gas Transmission Corporation, a maker of gas pipelines, and PG&E Generating Company, LLC, which constructs and operates power plants, are just a few of PG&E’s subsidiaries. The company’s gas and electric utility business, Pacific Gas and Electric Company serve a region of California that runs through Bakersfield in the South to Eureka in the north and from the Sierra Nevada in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, provides electric service to about 4.8 million customers and natural gas service to about 3.7 million gas customers. The corporation manages 43,000 miles of natural gas pipes and 131,000 kilometers of electric lines.
5. Southern Company
The Atlanta, Georgia-based Southern Corporation is a holding company for American electric and gas utilities. They have nine million subscribers and are the second-largest utility company in terms of customer base in the United States. They generated over US$23.5 billion in revenue as of 2018.
Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Virginia, and Tennessee are among the six states the Southern Company serves. It ranks 126th on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest American firms and employs about 31,000 people. Since September 30, 1949, the business has been traded openly and has about 500,000 stockholders.
In 1924, Southeastern Power & Light became the predecessor to The Southern Company. It now serves a broad 310,000 km2 area spread across several U.S. states. Its subsidiaries include Atlanta Gas Light, Georgia Power, Alabama Power, Southern Company Services, Southern Linc, and PowerSecure.
6. Edison International
Edison International is one of the first publicly listed electric utilities in the U.S.. More than 15 million consumers are served by Edison International, its main office in Rosemead, California. It has about 12,000 employees and brings in more than $12 billion annually (as of 2013). As of 2013, their total assets were $41.44 billion.
Southern California Edison Company (SCE), the original name of Edison International, was formed in 1909; it changed its name to Edison International in 1996. It replaces the first Edison Electric Company, which Thomas Edison formed in 1892. Southern California Edison (SCE), a subsidiary of Edison International, is one of the biggest electric utilities in the U.S. and the biggest in California. Edison International’s other subsidiaries are Edison Energy, Edison Mission Energy, Walnut Creek Energy, Mountain Wind Power, and many more.
7. AT&T
The corporate headquarters of the American multinational and multi-industry holding firm AT&T Inc. are located in Downtown Dallas, Texas’s Whitacre Tower. It offers broadband subscription television services and is the third-largest mobile telephone service provider in the U.S. After Comcast, AT&T is the second-largest provider of pay television services in the country.
In 1875, Alexander Graham Bell founded the Bell Telephone Company, which is how AT&T started. The world’s first telephone firm was The Bell Telephone Company. In 1994, the business changed into the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T).
The largest telecom business in the world by revenue, AT&T is ranked 13th among the largest American corporations on the Fortune 500 list.
8. Duke Energy
One of the biggest natural gas and power-holding businesses in the U.S. is Duke Energy Corp. Duke Energy has its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, and provides service to 7.2 million customers in numerous states. More than 27,000 people are employed by the business, which brings in more than $21 billion annually.
In 1904, Duke Energy was established under a different name. The business changed its name to Duke Power in 1924, and by joining forces with several other energy firms in 1927, it rose to greater prominence. It steadily grew in the 1st decade of the twentieth century, acquiring dozens of smaller utilities and increasing its service area.
To create Duke Energy, CP&L and Duke Power joined in 1997. Duke Energy, one of the top electrical suppliers in the U.S., is now ranked 145th on the Fortune 500. The subsidiaries of Duke Energy are Duke Energy Florida, Duke Energy Carolinas, and Duke Energy Progress.
9. American Water Works
The biggest publicly traded water and wastewater utility firm in the United States, American Water Works Inc., provides services to almost 24 million people. The business has over 6,000 employees and is based in Camden, New Jersey.
The American Water Works & Guarantee Company, the predecessor to American Water Works, was established in 1886. In 1914, they changed their names to American Water Works and Electric Company, then in 1947, to American Water Works Inc. For simplicity of management, the corporation is separated into numerous subdivisions.
The corporation had US$3.93 billion in sales and US$26.08 billion in total assets in 2021. They own numerous water treatment facilities, wells for groundwater, dams, pumping stations, and water storage facilities.
10. Duke Energy
One of America’s major energy-holding businesses is Duke Energy, a Fortune 150 firm with its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. They own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity and 8.2 million consumers amongst its electric utilities in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. In the early 1900s, the Catawba Power Company served as the foundation of Duke Energy. The company was established by Dr. W. Gill Wylie, William States Lee, and James Buchanan Duke because they believed the South’s heavy reliance on agriculture impeded the development of other industries. They, therefore, envisioned an integrated electric system of hydro-powered generating stations.
11. The AES Corporation
AES Corp (AES) is a provider of electricity. Electricity is produced, transmitted, and distributed by it. The company uses a variety of energy sources to produce its energy, including hydro, pet coke, diesel, biomass, oil, solar, heavy fuel oil, landfill gas, wind, coal, and gas. It sells electricity through power purchase agreements to utilities, commercial customers, and other middlemen. Additionally, AES owns and runs electric utilities that produce, buy, transmit, distribute, and sell electricity to residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental clients. North America, Asia, Europe, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean are all operationally present for the company. In the US, Arlington, Virginia, serves as the home base for AES.
12. Xcel Energy Inc.
The corporate offices of publicly traded utility holding company Xcel Energy Inc. are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States. It is the largest electricity and natural gas supplier in the Midwest.
The company’s asset portfolio includes eight utilities governed by different states. The New York Stock Exchange allows for public trading of it under the ticker symbol “XEL.” Additionally, it participated in resale sales and offered wholesale transmission services to numerous American companies. Parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Michigan, and Colorado get most of the natural gas transported, stored, and distributed by the Regulated Natural Gas sector. NSP-Wisconsin, NSP-Minnesota, Public Service Company of Colorado and Southwestern Public Service Co. are some of its utility subsidiaries (SPS).
The company also provides household services like home services and heating and cooling options.
13. Comcast
The two main operations of Comcast Corporation, a multinational media, and technology conglomerate, are Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.
Under the XFINITY brand, Comcast Cable is one of the biggest suppliers of television, high-speed Internet, and phone services to residential users in the United States. The company also offers these services to companies. It offers home consumers security and automation services. Comcast also provides a wireless cell phone service under the name Xfinity Mobile. Thirty-nine states and Washington, D.C. comprise the 29 million client relationships the corporation has throughout the country.
NBCUniversal is one of the greatest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. A valuable portfolio of news and entertainment broadcast and cable television networks and brands, prestigious film studios, sizable television production operations, two major television station groups, world-class theme parks, and several Internet-based businesses are owned and operated by NBCUniversal.
14. National Grid Inc.
British multinational energy company National Grid plc is based in London, United Kingdom.
It was founded in 1990 and is now the biggest natural gas distributor in the U.K. The corporation owns and operates electric transmission networks. National Grid is crucial in supplying energy to millions of people while looking for methods to clean the energy system. Additionally, National Grid Ventures and National Grid Partners support ideas that will transform and decarbonize the energy sector in the future. They offer gas and electricity to consumers and communities in a safe, dependable, and effective manner.
15. Iberdrola S.A.
Iberdrola S.A. is an energy-holding corporation that produces, distributes, trades, and markets electricity. The following businesses make up its operational structure: Networks, Liberalized, Renewables, and Other Businesses. The Networks division deals with the transmission and distribution of energy-related industries and other regulated ones from Spain, the U.K., the U.S., and Brazil. Electricity wholesale and retail in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and continental Europe are included in the liberalized business. Electricity production using renewable energy sources occurs in the renewables industry. The supply and gas storage of the group up until the point of sale, along with other non-energy activities, are included in the Other Businesses division. Juan de Urrutia created the business in 1901.
16. E.ON S.E.
A worldwide energy corporation with investor ownership, E.ON S.E. focuses on customer solutions and energy networks. It creates and markets goods and services for domestic, international, and industrial clients. Energy Grid, E-Mobility, Green Hydrogen, Green Internet, City Energy Solutions, I.Q. Energy and more are among the company’s business segments and solutions. The company’s headquarters are in Essen, Germany, and it was established on June 16, 2000.
17. Enel Societa Per Azioni
Natural gas is distributed and used to produce energy by Enel SpA. Enel Green Power, Thermal Generation, Global Infrastructure and Networks, Enel X Global Retail, and Global E-mobility are some of its business segments. Additionally, it provides services that help communities and businesses use integrated technological solutions. Italy, Iberia, Latin America, Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania are among its operating regions. The business was established on December 6, 1962, and has its main offices in Rome, Italy.
18. Dominion Energy Inc.
Dominion Energy Inc., with its headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, delivers natural gas to portions of Utah, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and electricity to sections of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Additionally, it owns generation plants in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Indiana, and Illinois.
To satisfy future demand, Dominion is now creating a strategy to obtain and use renewable energy sources, notably wind and biomass, and to maintain its corporate social responsibility by actively working to reduce Dominion’s environmental footprint.
19. China Yangtze Power
Providing energy distribution, sales, urban water supply, sewage treatment, and recycled water services to the nearly 360 million people in Central China (Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Jiangxi, and Chongqing), East China (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui), and the Guangdong Province. China Yangtze Power Co Ltd (SSE:600900) is a renewable energy utility company. China Yangtze Power has its headquarters in Beijing and employs around 5000 people. The business division of China Yangtze Electricity Co. Ltd. includes capital operation, power distribution, selling the business, foreign business, domestic business, and hydropower consultant services, to name a few.
20. PJSC Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom is a mainly state-owned transnational energy business with its headquarters in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the second-largest utility company in the world by market valuation. According to revenue, it is the world’s biggest publicly traded natural gas firm and the biggest business in Russia.
Conclusion
Public utility firms of various sizes offer crucial services to customers worldwide in this vast and quickly expanding industry. Twenty of the top public utility corporations are mentioned in this article. I hope you found this material to be instructive and helpful.