Energy Deregulation by States
Electricity Providers in Texas: Direct Energy
Direct Energy was originally established in Toronto, Canada in 1986. It currently has over 6 million customers in America and Canada, which makes it the largest energy and home services retailer to serve North America. They operate in 10 Canadian providences and 46 states in the United States and the District of Columbia. In 2000, Direct Energy was acquired by Centrica, a company that is based out of the UK and is the parent company of energy retailer British Gas. After this action, Direct Energy acquisitioned Energy America, Enbridge Home Services, the regulated retail operations of ATCO Electric and ATCO gas in Alberta, AEP's Texas Retail Operations (Central Power and Light and West Texas Utility), and Entergy Solutions Ltd.
Energy Retailer and Home Service Provider
Direct Energy is an alternative to local power suppliers and offers customers fixed price gas and electricity plans or pre-paid electricity plans. In 2010 Direct Energy acquired Clockwork Home Services. Through Clockwork, Direct Energy provides services for heating, air conditioning and plumbing under three original brands: One-Hour Air Conditioning and Heating, Mister Sparky and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. Direct Energy also has several gas reserves and power generation facilities, including Bastrop Energy Center, Quintana Mineral Resources, Paris Energy Center, Frontera Energy Center and Rockyview Energy Inc.
Community Involvement through Volunteering
Direct Energy conducts its business with a focus on serving the community. . Direct Energy encourages employees to get involved in their communities. The Direct Energy work force has accumulated over 10,000 volunteer hours in locations all across North America. Most notably, Direct Energy employees installed 400 planters throughout Pittsburgh and planted 5,000 daffodils. They also collected 12,635 pounds of vegetables for the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
Expansion On the Horizon
Direct Energy operates 4,600 natural gas wells in Alberta, Canada. Recently, Direct Energy acquired a significant amount of natural gas assets from Suncor Energy and Shell Canada. Direct Energy has development plans for expansion in major markets, such as Texas, the Northeastern United States and in Canada.
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