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The Industries
Lawsuits
Utilities History
Historically, infrastructure has been developed around energy and functional requirements to life including Coal, Electricity, natural gas, telephone, sewer, water, transportation and in more modern times broadband internetTypes of utilities
Coal
Historically Coal was the primary source of heat after wood, but in modern times coal is rarely used for home heating and instead is one of the legacy forms of power generation. Companies using this today include:* Duke energy
* Reliant Energy
* Georgia Power
Electricity
Nearly every populated region in the United States has at least one utility that serves electricity to habitable areas. The Top 10 utilities by volume in the U.S. are:* Pacific Gas & Electric
* Southern California Edison
* Florida Power & Light
* Consolidated Edison
* Georgia Power
* Dominion Energy
* DTE Energy
* Public Service Elec & Gas
* Duke Energy Carolinas
* Consumers Energy
| Rank | State | Average Electricity Rate for All Sectors (Cents per Kilowatthour) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louisiana | 7.75 |
| 2 | Washington | 7.94 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 8.12 |
| 4 | Arkansas | 8.18 |
| 5 | Wyoming | 8.29 |
| 6 | Idaho | 8.30 |
| 7 | Kentucky | 8.44 |
| 8 | Texas | 8.55 |
| 9 | Utah | 8.66 |
| 10 | Nevada | 8.76 |
| 11 | Iowa | 8.92 |
| 12 | Oregon | 8.98 |
| 13 | West Virginia | 9.00 |
| 14 | Montana | 9.02 |
| 15 | North Carolina | 9.15 |
| 16 | Nebraska | 9.16 |
| 17 | Mississippi | 9.19 |
| 18 | North Dakota | 9.26 |
| 19 | Virginia | 9.28 |
| 20 | Illinois | 9.33 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 9.54 |
| 22 | Indiana | 9.61 |
| 23 | New Mexico | 9.64 |
| 24 | Ohio | 9.71 |
| 25 | Georgia | 9.75 |
| 26 | Missouri | 9.83 |
| 26 | South Carolina | 9.83 |
| 27 | Alabama | 9.89 |
| 28 | Colorado | 9.94 |
| 29 | South Dakota | 9.98 |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | 10.16 |
| 31 | Minnesota | 10.53 |
| National Average | 10.54 | |
| 32 | Kansas | 10.58 |
| 33 | Florida | 10.65 |
| 34 | Arizona | 10.71 |
| 35 | Delaware | 10.99 |
| 36 | Wisconsin | 11.05 |
| 37 | Michigan | 11.39 |
| 38 | District of Columbia | 11.81 |
| 39 | Maryland | 12.00 |
| 40 | Maine | 12.94 |
| 41 | New Jersey | 13.38 |
| 42 | Vermont | 14.57 |
| 43 | New York | 14.78 |
| 44 | Massachusetts | 16.14 |
| 44 | California | 16.14 |
| 45 | New Hampshire | 16.16 |
| 46 | Rhode Island | 16.44 |
| 47 | Connecticut | 17.62 |
| 48 | Alaska | 19.52 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 26.07 |
Natural Gas
In the United States, the vast majority of homes are heated with either electricity or Natural Gas, where Natural Gas is typically the much cheaper alternative. Regional, National and International pipelines connect well producers to refiners, and the to transporters, utilities, and consumers. In some cases Natural Gas and NGL (Natural Gas Liquids) are transported internationally via shipping liquefied gas on transport barge. Most consumers pay for gas by the therm, or the amount of heat equivalent that they have used, not the the volume of gas consumed. Strict regulation requires finished product to have certain levels of CO2, and Sulfer that are safe to burn. Many utilities will add odorants to the gas that can warn users when a pilot flame is missing and flammable concentrations are building up. This is somewhat controversial as a sufficient safety mechanism in that the odorant can be lost through ground contact, and certain individuals in the population cannot detect the smell. If you think it smells like methane you are wrong, methane itself (the dominant constituent of NG) is inherently odorless. It is the odorant added, typically based on cabbage or skunk compounds that you are smelling.* ExxonMobil
* Chesapeake Energy
* Anadarko Petroleum
* British Petroleum
* Devon Energy
* Encana
* ConocoPhillips
* Chevron
* Royal Dutch Shell
* EOG Resources Inc
Telephone
For many, the telephone is the primary utility. For what ever reason they yak on and on, and after there is no one left to listen they pick the phone up, dial a number and continue the flow of one-sided mis information. Historically, based in first the telegraph and samual morse, the telephone when introduced with the ability to carry voice over copper was a modern marvel. Eventually, this physical tie was unable to meet the needs of millennial workers and the mobile nature required a more disconnected and mobile solution, the handy or mobile solution. For non third world countries, modern birthrates have shown the nearsided nature of development is properly suited to the cell phone as a primary communication mechanism, even when in person. * Verizon* AT&T
* T-Mobile
* Sprint Corporation
* U.S. Cellular
* China Mobile
* SoftBank
* Nippon Telegraph & Telephone
* Deutsche Telekom
* Telefónica
* KDDI
* China Telecom
* Orange
Water and Wastewater (Sewer)
In many areas the water and sewer company are the same entity - dealing in water (supply) and water reclamation and recover (sewer)www.utilityconnection.com lists many of these utilities that are regional, state, county and even section of city or jurisdiction.
* California Water Service
* Aqua America
* American States Water
* American Water Works
* Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo
* Artesian Resources
* SJW Corp.
* Connecticut Water
* Middlesex Water
* York Water
Transportation
No longer a real utility, except for roadway infrastructure - this is a list of some of the top 18 wheeler transporters. Guaranteed to only run one set of books, not like the 2 sets the 'other' groups use. The tag team drivers is really just a driver and a doll in the back, but since the truck sits so high the troopers will never know. * Knight-Swift* JB Hunt Transportation Company
* XPO Logistics
* Schneider National
* Werner Enterprises
Broadband
Building upon what was once digital lines with morse code, and then voice, we are back to a digital connection that ties all modern computing together. Most households have a physical line of copper, cable coax, or fiber that connects the home back to the central office. In rural areas it is more common to see microwave type links to serve back haul of 10's of miles back to a town so that a lonely farmhouse can enjoy the latest netflix release or facebook update. The following is a small ist of some of the biggest providers, but in rural areas your best option often remains a local co-op style utility to get you that microwave backhaul. In extreme circumstances, satellite is possible the but data rates, cost and latency is usually not acceptable unless you truly have no other choice. * Comcast* Charter
* AT&T
* Verizon
* CenturyLink
* Cox
* Altice USA
* Frontier
* Mediacom
* TDS Telecom
* Windstream