Essential Utilities Valuation Multiples

GE Vernova is a global leader in the electric power industry, with products and services that generate, transfer, convert, and store electricity. The company has three business segments: power, wind, and electrification. Power includes gas, nuclear, hydroelectric, and steam technologies, providing dispatchable power. The wind segment includes wind generation technologies, inclusive of onshore and offshore wind turbines and blades. Electrification includes grid solutions, power conversion, electrification software, and solar and storage solutions technologies required for the transmission, distribution, conversion, and storage of electricity from the point of generation to point of consumption.

Reliance Industries Ltd is engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production, refining and marketing, petrochemicals, financial services, retail, and communications. The Group has five principal operating and reporting segments: Oil to Chemicals (O2C), Oil and Gas, Retail, Digital Services, and other services. Reliance's refineries produce a range of petroleum products that find use as fuel variants, feedstock, and fuel for power and cement plants. Fuels produced in refineries are exported to several countries and can be processed into any grade of gasoline or diesel. The Oil to Chemicals segment, which derives the majority of revenue, includes Refining, Petrochemicals, fuel retailing through Reliance BP Mobility Limited, aviation fuel, and bulk wholesale marketing.

NextEra Energy's regulated utility, Florida Power & Light, is the largest rate-regulated utility in Florida. The utility distributes power to over 6 million customer accounts in Florida and owns 36 gigawatts of generation. FP&L contributes roughly 70% of NextEra's consolidated operating earnings. NextEra Energy Resources, the renewable energy segment, generates and sells power throughout the United States and Canada with nearly 40 GW of generation capacity, including natural gas, nuclear, wind, and solar.

Siemens Energy manufactures a wide range of equipment used to generate and transmit energy. The group is a product of the spinout from Siemens AG in 2020, consisting of the power and gas segment and Siemens Gamesa, although its operations go back over 150 years. Approximately one-sixth of global electricity generation is based on its technology.

Iberdrola is one of the largest utilities in the world with electric utility operations in nearly 40 countries. The company has a 57-gigawatt portfolio of hydro, wind, natural gas, and nuclear power plants. It is one of the largest owners of wind farms in the world, representing about 40% of its portfolio. Although the company has recently developed or acquired distribution and power generation assets in other geographic areas, Spain is still home to more than half of its power generation capacity. Iberdrola also owns and operates electricity and distribution networks in Spain, the UK, Brazil, and the US.

Enbridge owns extensive midstream assets that transport hydrocarbons across the US and Canada. Its pipeline network consists of the Canadian Mainline system, regional oil sands pipelines, and natural gas pipelines. The company also operates regulated natural gas utilities in the US and Canada, including Canada's largest natural gas distribution company. The firm has a small renewable energy portfolio primarily focused on onshore and offshore wind projects.

Enel is a diversified energy company domiciled in Italy. Operations are concentrated in Italy, Spain, and Latin America. The firm's primary activities are electric generation, electric networks, and gas and electricity marketing. Around 35% of the company's EBITDA is derived from its regulated networks, the rest is from generation and supply. Enel is a giant in global power generation with 81 gigawatts of capacity, of which 56 GW is renewables, including a large share of hydro.

Quanta Services is a leading provider of specialty contracting services, delivering comprehensive infrastructure solutions for the electric and gas utility, communications, pipeline, and energy industries in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Quanta reports its results under two segments: electric and underground utility and infrastructure.

Southern is one of the largest utilities in the US. The company serves 9 million customers with vertically integrated electric utilities in three states and natural gas distribution utilities in four states. It owns 44 gigawatts of rate-regulated generating capacity, primarily for serving customers in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Subsidiary Southern Power owns 13 gigawatts of natural gas generation and renewable energy across the US and sells the electricity primarily under long-term contracts.

Constellation Energy Corp producer of carbon-free energy and a supplier of energy products and services. The company offers generating capacity that includes nuclear, wind, solar, natural gas, and hydroelectric assets. It sells electricity, natural gas, and other energy-related products and sustainable solutions to various types of customers, including distribution utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, and commercial, industrial, public sector, and residential customers in markets across multiple geographic regions. Its operating segments and reporting units are Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, New York, ERCOT, and Other Power Regions.

Duke Energy is one of the largest US utilities, with regulated utilities in the Carolinas, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Kentucky that deliver electricity to more than 8 million customers. Its natural gas utilities serve more than 1.6 million customers.

Williams operates the Transco pipeline, which connects the Gulf Coast to the Northeast United States. It has additional natural gas transmission pipelines connecting the Rockies to the Pacific Northwest and midcontinent. At the field level, it operates substantial gathering and processing assets in Appalachia and other basins. The company has also struck several power supply agreements.

Enterprise Products Partners is a master limited partnership that transports and processes natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined products, and petrochemicals. It is one of the largest midstream companies, with operations servicing most producing regions in the continental US. Enterprise is particularly dominant in the NGL market and is one of the few MLPs that provide midstream services across the full hydrocarbon value chain.

National Grid owns and operates the electric transmission system in England and Wales. It sold the bulk of its UK gas transmission business in fiscal 2023 to fund the acquisition of PPL's UK power distribution assets. In the Northeastern United States, it serves electricity and gas customers combined in three states. It also owns regulated transmission and electricity generation in the United States, metering services, merchant transmission lines in the UK, and the Grain (UK) liquefied natural gas facility.

Engie is a global energy firm formed by the 2008 merger of Gaz de France and Suez and the acquisition of International Power in 2012. It changed its name to Engie from GDF Suez in 2015. The company operates Europe's largest gas pipeline network in France and a global fleet of conventional and renewable power plants with 67 GW of capacity on a consolidated basis. Engie also operates a diverse suite of other energy businesses.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co PJSC which is majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi government is a fully integrated energy provider with operations in nine markets around the world. Its segment includes Power and Water Generation segment, Power and Water Transmission and Distribution segment, Oil and Gas segment, Water Solutions Segment. The company generates the majority of its revenue from Power and Water Transmission and Distribution segment, which is engaged in generation of electricity and production of desalinated water for supply in UAE and generation of electricity in Morocco, India, Ghana, and Saudi Arabia. Geographically the company generates the majority of its revenue from UAE.

TC Energy operates natural gas transmission assets across North America. Segments are determined by country of operation, but both Canadian and US operations are interconnected. Mexican operations are disconnected from the US and only have one customer, the state utility CFE. They also operate power generation assets, with the largest being the Bruce Power nuclear plant.

Kinder Morgan operates natural gas, crude oil, and refined products pipelines connecting producing regions to demand centers. It is principally involved in the gathering, storage, and transmission of natural gas across the continental United States. It also operates distribution centers for refined products along with the largest fleet of Jones Act-compliant tankers.

American Electric Power is one of the largest regulated utilities in the United States, providing electricity generation, transmission, and distribution to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. About 39% of AEP's capacity is coal, with the remainder from a mix of natural gas (28%), renewable energy and hydro (23%), nuclear (7%), and demand response (3%). Vertically integrated utilities, transmission and distribution, and generation and marketing support earnings.

Energy Transfer is a diversified midstream firm, operating from wellhead to consuming demand. It handles natural gas, natural gas liquids, or NGLs, crude oil, and refined products. Commodities are moved through its network of field level gathering and processing to refineries and demand centers. Operations are concentrated in Texas and the Midcontinent United States. It also controls Sunoco and USA Compression through its general partner relationship.

Sempra Energy serves one of the largest utility customer bases in the United States. It distributes natural gas and electricity in Southern California and owns 80% of Oncor, a transmission and distribution business in Texas. Sempra Infrastructure partners, of which Sempra will hold a 25% ownership, owns and operates liquefied natural gas facilities in North America and infrastructure in Mexico.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, Dominion Energy is an integrated energy company with over 30 gigawatts of electric generation capacity and more than 90,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. Dominion is constructing a rate-regulated 5.2 GW wind farm off the Virginia Beach coast.

Targa Resources Corp is a midstream firm that mainly operates gathering and processing assets with substantial positions in the Permian, Stack, Scoop, and Bakken plays. It has fractionation capacity at Mont Belvieu and operates a liquefied petroleum gas export terminal. The Grand Prix natural gas liquids pipeline is another important asset. It has two operating segments: Gathering and Processing, and, Logistics and Transportation (also referred to as the Downstream Business).

MPLX is a partnership that owns pipelines and gathering and processing assets with extensive holdings in the Appalachian and Permian regions. The asset base is made up of crude oil and refined products assets dropped down from Marathon Petroleum, its sponsor, and natural gas and natural gas liquids gathering and processing assets that were purchased or built.

Since completing the transformative deal with RWE in 2019, E.On has two core businesses: energy networks and customer solutions. Its retail supply serves around 47 million customers primarily in Germany, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. Its networks business operates in Germany, Sweden, Eastern Europe, and Turkey.

Oneok is a diversified midstream service provider specializing in natural gas gathering, processing, storage, and transportation, as well as natural gas liquids transportation and fractionation. It also operates in the refined product and crude oil segment, connecting producers, refiners, and consumers. Operations are in the midcontinent, Permian, and Rocky Mountain regions.

Vistra Corp. is one of the largest power producers and retail energy providers in the USA. It owns 44 gigawatts of generation capacity, including natural gas (27 GW), nuclear (6.5 GW), coal (8.7 GW), and solar and battery storage (1.4 GW). The Cogentrix acquisition will add 5.5 GW of gas generation. Vistra's retail electricity business serves 5 million customers in 20 states, including almost a third of all Texas electricity consumers. Vistra emerged from the Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy as a stand-alone entity in 2016.

Entergy is a holding company with five regulated vertically integrated utilities that generate and distribute electricity to 3 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It is one of the largest power producers in the country with 27 gigawatts of rate-regulated owned and leased power generation capacity. Entergy was the second-largest nuclear owner in the US before it began retiring and selling its plants in the Northeast in 2014. It sold its two small gas utilities in Louisiana in 2025.

Xcel Energy manages utilities serving 3.9 million electric customers and 2.2 million natural gas customers in eight states. Its utilities are Northern States Power, which serves customers in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; Public Service Company of Colorado; and Southwestern Public Service Company, which serves customers in Texas and New Mexico. It is one of the largest renewable energy suppliers in the US, with more than half of its electricity sales coming from carbon-free energy.

Adani Power Ltd is an electric utility company that produces and transmits energy from its portfolio of power plants located throughout India. The company produces its energy using thermal fuel sources, such as coal but also owns facilities that utilize solar and steam generation. The company's electricity sales are structured through long-term agreements. Its business segments include Power Generation and related activities, which generates key revenue, and Trading, Investment, and other activities. Geographically, the company generates a majority of its revenue from India.

Exelon serves approximately 10 million power and gas customers at its six regulated utilities in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.

Since the deal with E.On, RWE is refocused on power generation, mostly in Europe. It owns 38 gigawatts of power generation capacity: 17% from lignite and hard coal plants, 36% from gas plants, 40% from renewables including pumped storage and batteries. Besides Germany, RWE’s power plants are chiefly located in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United States for many onshore wind farms.

Orlen SA is an energy conglomerate that refines and distributes oil in Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Lithuania. Through a group of refineries, it processes crude oil into gasoline, diesel oil, fuel oil, and aviation fuel. The company also produces petrochemicals and products used by chemical companies as feedstock. Additional operations include exploration and production activities in Poland, where it is domiciled, and Canada. Oil products are offered through thousands of service stations, which is supported by logistics infrastructure. This infrastructure includes surface and underground storage depots and a long-distance pipeline network.

Endesa generates, distributes, and supplies electricity in Spain and Portugal. The company has 21.5 gigawatts of installed generation capacity split among hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas, oil, solar, and wind. Endesa also supplies gas to retail and business customers in Spain and France.

Public Service Enterprise Group is the holding company for a regulated utility (PSE&G) and PSEG Power, which owns all or a share of three nuclear plants and clean energy projects. PSE&G provides regulated gas and electricity delivery services in New Jersey to a combined 4.3 million customers. Public Service Enterprise Group also operates the Long Island Power Authority system under a contract extension through 2030. In 2022, the company sold its gas and oil power plants in the mid-Atlantic, New York, and the Northeast.

Con Ed is a holding company for Consolidated Edison of New York, or CECONY, and Orange & Rockland, or O&R. These utilities provide steam, natural gas, and electricity to customers in southeastern New York—including New York City—and small parts of New Jersey. The two utilities generate nearly all of Con Ed's earnings following the sale of its clean energy business to RWE in early 2023.

ACWA Power Co is engaged in developing, investing, operating, and maintaining power generation, water desalination, and green hydrogen production plants, and bulk sale of electricity. The company's segments include Thermal and Water Desalination, Renewables, and Others. It generates maximum revenue from the Thermal and Water Desalination segment. Geographically, the company generates maximum revenue from Saudi Arabia, followed by other markets in the Middle East and Africa.

SSE is an integrated utility based in the United Kingdom. The bulk of SSE's profit comes from the company's power generation businesses and its electricity transmission and distribution networks. The firm is also involved in smaller related businesses such as gas storage and energy services.

NTPC Ltd is an Indian state-owned electric utility company. It is the power producer in India and supplies a significant amount of the nation's total needs. The company generates revenue through the sale of electricity to state-owned Indian power distribution companies from its stations throughout the country. NTPC also brings in a significant amount of revenue through its consultancy wing, which provides project management and supervision, energy trading, oil and gas exploration and coal mining. While the vast majority of its facilities use coal and gas fuel sources, NTPC has also increased its capacity through renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric, solar, and thermal power, and plans to continue this trend going forward.

PG&E is a holding company whose main subsidiary is Pacific Gas and Electric, a regulated utility operating in Central and Northern California that serves 5.3 million electricity customers and 4.6 million gas customers in 47 of the state's 58 counties. PG&E operated under bankruptcy court supervision between January 2019 and June 2020. In 2004, PG&E sold its unregulated assets as part of an earlier postbankruptcy reorganization.

WEC Energy Group's electric and gas utility businesses serve electric and gas customers in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin service territories. The company also owns a 60% stake in American Transmission Co. WEC's asset mix is approximately 49% electric generation and distribution, 30% gas distribution, 10% electric transmission, 9% unregulated renewable energy, and 2% LNG distribution and generation.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority PJSC is engaged in water desalination and distribution and its generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, throughout the Emirate of Dubai. The group is organized into four segments; DEWA is engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and water desalination, transmission and distribution to residential, commercial, industrial, and government; EMPOWER is engaged in the provision of district cooling, maintenance of central cooling plants and manufacturing and sale of insulated pipes; IWPP is engaged in the development, operation and maintenance of power and water plants; and Others operations include purification and sale of potable water, and other. It generates maximum revenue from the DEWA segment.

Danish company Orsted was named Dong Energy until the sale of all its oil and gas fields to Ineos in 2017, soon after the May 2016 initial public offering. Orsted is now focused on renewable assets, especially offshore wind farms. It operated 9.9 gigawatts of offshore wind farms at the end of 2024. The United Kingdom is the biggest country of operation, ahead of Germany and Denmark. The group intends to develop its footprint outside Europe with projects in Taiwan and in the US. Orsted also operates 4.8 GW of onshore wind and solar assets concentrated in the United States. The company is involved in more traditional utilities business like conventional power plants and gas supply, but these activities are noncore.

CEZ AS is a Czech energy company of which the government of the Czech Republic is the majority shareholder. The core business of the company is the generation, distribution, trade, and sale of electricity and heat. With its subsidiaries, the company operates a portfolio of both conventional and renewable energy power plants. Total energy production is mainly split between facilities utilizing thermal and nuclear inputs. CEZ segments comprise Generation; Distribution; Sales and Mining. The majority of its revenue is derived from the Generation segment.

Naturgy stems from the 2008 acquisition of Union Fenosa. The company operates across the gas value chain, from procurement to distribution and marketing. It owns and operates the largest gas distribution network in Spain, where it is also the leading retail gas supplier. The company additionally operates gas and electricity distribution networks across several Latin American countries. It owns 17.9 GW of generation capacity, including 7.3 GW of wind and solar.

PT Barito Renewables Energy Tbk, along with its subsidiaries, operates as a geothermal and wind energy power producer in Indonesia. Its project portfolio comprises Wayang Windu, Salak, Sidrap I, and Darajat. The company generates maximum revenue from the generation and sale of electricity in Indonesia.

Cheniere Energy Partners is a liquified natural gas producer operating one facility in Sabine Pass, Louisiana. It generates most of its revenue through long-term contracts with customers on a fixed- and variable-fee payout structure. It also generates revenue by selling uncontracted LNG to customers on a short or one-time basis. The profit generated through those activities is split with parent and operator Cheniere Energy.

DTE Energy owns two regulated utilities in Michigan that contribute 90% of earnings. DTE Electric serves approximately 2.3 million customers in southeastern Michigan, including Detroit. DTE Gas serves 1.3 million customers throughout the state. In addition, DTE has nonutility businesses and investments including energy marketing and trading, renewable natural gas facilities, and on-site industrial energy projects.