Generation Sources

• According to the U.S. Department of Energy, coal-fired power plants produced 48.2 percent of U.S. electricity, or 4,119 billion kilowatt hours, in 2008, which is the most recent data available. Natural-gas plants were second at 21.4 percent, and nuclear was at 19.6 percent. Hydroelectric power represented 6 percent, and other renewables, including wind, was at 3.1 percent. The share of electricity produced by natural gas increased from 13.7 percent in 1997 to 21.4 percent in 2008.
  
  

Revenues

• As of 2008, U.S. investor-owned utilities combined for $298 billion in operating revenues, with an operating income of $31.6 billion.
  
  

Structure

• There were 3,273 traditional electric utilities in the U.S. as of 2008. This includes investor-owned, publicly-owned, cooperatives and federal utilities, according to the Department of Energy. These utilities are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In addition, there were 1,738 nonutility power producers in the U.S., which includes combined heat and power plants, independent power producers that sell electricity on the wholesale market.
  
  

Employment

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the electric power industry employed 50,400 people in 2008, including nuclear power plant reactors, power distributors and dispatchers, and 35,400 power plant operators.