Independent/Merchant Power Production Industry Financials

Over 6,000 companies in the US are involved in the wholesale trade and retail distribution of electricity, with combined annual revenue of more than $220 billion. Companies include owners of high-voltage transmission lines and retail distribution systems, and intermediaries like energy dealers and brokers. The US consumes close to 4 billion megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per year, about 50 percent of which is bought and sold on the wholesale market.

The electric power generation industry consists of 2,200 power generating plants with combined revenue of $80 billion. Major companies include Duke Energy, Excelon, American Electric Power, and Consolidated Edison of New York. The industry is highly concentrated: the 50 largest firms operate more than 50 percent of the generating facilities and earn over 85 percent of industry revenue. In addition to investor-owned utilities, there are about 2,000 government-owned electric power companies at the federal, state, and municipal level, and another 900 user-owned electric cooperatives.

Using the 2002 Census Bureau Economic Census, Hoover's has generated an industry financial summary for the Independent/Merchant Power Production industry.