The utility industry is one of the most important industries in the world, because of course, without utilities, our current existence would be unfathomable. Utilities involves some of the basic necessities that we require and utility companies provide us sewerage, water, gas and electricity. This is why these companies also often include some of the largest electric companies in the world, and are more often than not state owned and tasked with ensuring uninterrupted supply to its residents.
The global utility industry was mostly dominated by the continent of Europe, even though Asia Pacific started catching up quickly, and by 2019, was the biggest market in the global utility industry, accounting for more than 40% of the market while Western Europe ended up accounting for only 25%. This growth in Asia Pacific has been unsurprisingly led by China and Japan, and you will see multiple companies from China on this list while Japan also has a shout in the largest utility companies in the world. In our list, you will see companies from both regions competing to become the largest utility company in the world. The overall utility market on a global level is worth more than $4.5 trillion, which makes it by far one of the biggest industries in the world.
The importance of having stable output of utilities cannot be understated. It is absolutely integral to the development of an economy, and especially when we talk about developing economies. In fact, even developed economies can be severely disrupted especially if there’s a breakdown in the supply of electricity, now that the world is more and more dependent on electricity to operate as we become more technologically advanced. A few hours of power breakdown in a major city can wreak havoc on everything, from advertising billboards to traffic signals and can even result in panic and rioting, if the timings of the breakdown are extended. I am from a country where power breakdowns are a way of life and most days, there is an outage of some sort, which affects daily routine and can be a major struggle. Even steady supply of water and natural gas can be patchy at best, and you have to resort to getting gas cylinders or having to arrange your own supply of water, both of which can be quite costly and not an affordable solution for the poor.
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There is a lot of pressure on the utilities industry from shareholders, citizen and governments to go clean and follow the regulations laid out by the Paris Climate Accord. Due to the pressure and due to the sense of responsibility many such companies feel, they have announced to go carbon free in the next three decades, which if accomplished, will be a massive achievement for the industry. This could be further accelerated as the administration is now changing and Donald Trump’s infamous reign as the President of the United States is drawing to its inevitable conclusion.
Of course, just like almost every other industry, the global pandemic Covid-19 has affected the utilities industry too, though thankfully not as severely as other industries, since utilities fall under necessities and were exempt from most lockdowns across the world. One of the effects have been due to the fact that many governments attempted to provide relief to its citizens and allowed late payment of fees or waived fees for a considerable time, which has impacted the cashflow and receivables of many utility companies. In the United States, every state had forbidden utility companies from disconnecting services on non-payment so as not to exacerbate the situation faced by millions in the country. If you want to learn more about the Covid impact on other industries, consider taking a look at the 15 largest energy companies in the world.
The 15 largest utility companies in the world have revenues exceeding $1 trillion, while the profits are nearly worth $29.5 billion (some companies have even made losses) and the total assets are worth close to $2.3 trillion. These companies also provide direct employment to more than 3 million people. All of the statistics and figures have been taken from the 2020 Fortune Global 500, where utility companies have strong presence. There is only one US company in our list with other major companies such as PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), Edison International (NYSE:EIX) and Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) missing out. For our rankings, we have used revenues, assets, profit and number of employees as metrics to come up with the most accurate rankings. So let’s take a look at the companies responsible for some of our basic necessities, starting with numbe 15:
15. Centrica
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 28,934
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): -1,305
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 24,045
Total employees of the company in 2019: 29,147
Centrica is the largest British utility company and kicks off our list, with operations in the UK, the US and Ireland.
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14. Naturgy Energy Group
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 25,991
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 1,568
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 46,173
Total employees of the company in 2019: 12,138
The second largest Spanish utility company in our list, Naturgy operates in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco and Moldova.
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13. Chubu Electric Power
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 28,200
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 1,504
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 50,901
Total employees of the company in 2019: 28,448
Chubu is one of three Japanese electric companies in our list, and was founded 69 years ago in 1951.
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12. Kansai Electric Power
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 29,288
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 1,196
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 70,443
Total employees of the company in 2019: 31,850
Japan’s second largest utility company is responsible for the provision of electricity in the Kansai region and was founded close to 70 years ago in 1951.
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11. Veolia Environment
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 30,431
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 699
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 46,040
Total employees of the company in 2019: 178,021
The French transnational company has operations in around 48 countries and can trace its lineage to 1853, which means it was founded 167 years ago.
10. Tokyo Electric Power
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 57,407
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 466
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 110,649
Total employees of the company in 2019: 37,892
This Japanese company is of course, Japan’s biggest utility company, and while headquartered in Toyko, also has branches in London and Washington D.C.
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9. China Huadian
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 33,808
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 310
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 118,038
Total employees of the company in 2019: 94,790
It is one of the five biggest state owned power generation companies in China, and produces around 10% of China’s total power.
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8. CFE
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 29,869
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 2,261
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 115,748
Total employees of the company in 2019: 90,621
The Comisión Federal de Electricidad is Mexico’s biggest utility company, and is owned by the government of Mexico. In fact, it is the second most powerful state owned company in Mexico and was founded 83 years ago in 1937.
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7. Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 50,257
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): -2,013
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 170,888
Total employees of the company in 2019: 47,452
Korea Electric Power is the biggest utility and electricity provider in the country of South Korea, and also makes our list of the largest utility companies in the world. The company is responsible for the generation, distribution and transmission of electricity through wind, coal and nuclear power.
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6. Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC)
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 34,438
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 2,936
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 124,977
Total employees of the company in 2019: 32,713
The largest utility company in the United States is Exelon, which has more than 10 million customers. It is also the biggest nuclear power plant operator in the United States and the biggest non-governmental nuclear power plant operator in the entire world.
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5. Iberdrola
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 40,783
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 3,813
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 137,437
Total employees of the company in 2019: 34,306
Iberdrola is the largest utility company in Spain, and you will soon see the largest utility countries in Italy and France as well. The company is based in Bilbao and has a presence in dozens of countries across the world, serving close to 32 million customers. It is also the biggest wind power producer in the world and like I mentioned earlier, has a presence in many countries which include USA, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, France, Portugal, Italy and Mexico.
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4. China Southern Power Grid
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 81,978
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 1,833
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 134,036
Total employees of the company in 2019: 283,639
Founded in 2002, this state owned company shows the presence of China in our list, and another entry is yet to come from the country. It is involved in the investment, management and construction of power transmission, transformation as well as distributing and maintains its presence in five provinces of the country. The headquarters of the company are maintained in Guangzhou, Guangdong.
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3. Enel
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 89,907
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 2,433
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 192,409
Total employees of the company in 2019: 68,253
The biggest utility company in Italy, which was initially a public body in 1962, before becoming a public company in 1992 and then being privatized in 1999.
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2. Electricité de France
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 80,278
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 5,770
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 340,406
Total employees of the company in 2019: 161,522
EDF is a French company as suggested by its name, and in 2009, was the biggest producer of electricity in the world. EDF has 58 active nuclear reactors, and even though there has been controversy regarding the government shutting nuclear plants to reduce their dependency on nuclear energy, recently the government asked EDF for proposals on three replacement nuclear powerplants.
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1. State Grid
Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 383,906
Total profits of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 7,970
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 596,616
Total employees of the company in 2019: 907,677
Topping the list of the 10 largest utility companies in the world is State Grid, which in terms of revenue is also among the biggest companies in the world regardless of industry or location. In fact, if we consider revenue alone, it is currently the third largest company in the entire world. The company was established 18 years ago in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing. The company employs over 900,000 people and is one of the biggest companies in the world by number of employees as well.
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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.