Collectively, public power underpins the vitality and viability of thousands of American communities.
Together, public power utilities serve more than 49 million people, including:
19.5 million homes
3 million businesses
We manage 10% of electric generating facilities – including 120 gigawatts in power plants and other generation infrastructure that generated more than 390,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2019.
We also manage critical infrastructure including hundreds of thousands of miles of transmission and distribution lines and thousands of substations.
Public power is also a big player in the electricity markets – purchasing more than 200,000 GWh in 2019.
Our customers buy more than 15% of all electricity sold in the U.S., bringing more than $60 billion in revenue to public power utilities each year.
We contribute more than $2 billion each year to the budgets of more than 2,000 cities and towns.
We employ 96,200 people in a wide array of professional and technical roles. These stable, hometown jobs represent 16% of the utility workforce.
We partner and volunteer with other community organizations to keep our communities strong – providing our expertise for services such as:
- Teaching kids (and adults!) about electrical safety
- Providing electric service to municipal parks and in holiday lighting displays
- Planting trees and native plants
- Supporting smart economic development
We are more than just electric utilities. We are our communities.
