But then came July, when Mirant, Reliant Energy, Duke Energy, Dynegy and others took heat for their possible role in creating an artificial shortage during the 2001 electric power crisis.
So will Wal-Mart someday morph into a discount residential energy provider, undercutting the likes of Reliant Energy (nyse: RRI - news - people ) in Texas?
Consumers are being warned they face higher energy bills as the UK becomes more reliant on energy imports.
But, the idea of abandoning nuclear power faces stiff resistance in a country so reliant on imported energy sources.
And western Europe in general is increasingly reliant on Russian energy exports.
Oppressive regulations will do little to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels as our economy will continue to be reliant on traditional energy sources for the foreseeable future.
He noted that NRG electricity retailers Reliant and Green Mountain Energy would be natural channels for a residential solar business.
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To western Europeans who are increasingly reliant on Russia for energy, this too should be a matter of great concern.
What the growing and possibly unstoppable anti-nuclear movement in Japan probably means that Japan will be permanently reliant of imports of energy, not least from neighboring Russian Siberia.
FORBES: A Weakened Japan's Relations with Russia and the U.S. May be Changing
Such a group could not impose legally binding directives on any country (especially not countries like France that are 75-percent reliant on domestic nuclear energy generation).
FORBES: An Immodest Proposal to Spur Nuclear Energy Industry Growth -- and Global Safety
Smaller Eastern European nations such as Poland and Lithuania have traditionally been rather heavily reliant on Russia for their energy needs.
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However, China is still reliant on imported technology to drive its energy conservation and diversification.
Since then, Japan has been reliant on imported fossil fuels to meet its energy needs.
It also claimed the government was over-reliant on windpower as a solution to future energy needs in Wales.
This means that, at least in the early stages of adoption, Chinese businesses will still be reliant on coal and oil to bridge that energy chasm before the new energy technologies become economically competitive.
True, Chad uses little energy, but the country is largely reliant on low-tech subsistence farming.
They are managing to use less energy, but because they are so reliant on coal and because they are in a phase of heavy industry right now - emitting an awful lot of carbon, and that is probably set to continue.
Not everyone is convinced that wind-power is the most reliant route to clean, renewable carbon-free energy, and it is concerning that Britain is relying on a power source that must be backed up by more constant technologies such as nuclear, coal, or gas, because the wind blows inconsistently, as is its nature.
In some sense, the companies are strange bedfellows: Nest is the quintessential Silicon Valley startup and Reliant is part of a large East Coast-based energy company called NRG.
This will give Russia yet another lever over the Baltic states, which are completely reliant on Russian natural gas, and could further stymie their energy diversification plans.
China and other energy hungry countries have been on the hunt for alternative energy sources, to move away from being heavily reliant on coal and fossil fuels.
BBC: China firms to invest $2bn exploring shale gas reserves
Companies the FERC accuses of gaming include Sempra Energy (nyse: SRE - news - people ), Canadian provincial utility BC Hydro, Avista (nyse: AVA - news - people ), American Electric Power (nyse: AEP - news - people ), Duke Energy (nyse: DUK - news - people ), Mirant (nyse: MIR - news - people ), Dynegy (nyse: DYN - news - people ), Calpine (nyse: CPN - news - people ), Reliant, Williams Cos. (nyse: WMB - news - people ) and Constellation Energy Group (nyse: CEG - news - people ).
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