National Grid

ABOUT THIS COMPANY:

A thousand little pieces (of an inter-National Grid network) 

The company's a major player on the energy scene, with 16 million customers on the books, and tons of others it touches indirectly. Specifically, National Grid serves as an owner/operator for both electricity networks and natural gas pipeline networks throughout the U.K., in the form of National Grid Electricity Transmission plc and National Grid Gas plc; it takes on a similar role in four states -- Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island -- in the Northeastern U.S. in the guise of a number of regional companies (including New England Power, The Brooklyn Union Gas Company, KeySpan Gas East, and Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.). It's also got minor stakes in other energy businesses, like metering services and liquid natural gas imports (in the U.K.), and liquid natural gas transport and storage, maintenance of gas fields, and other home energy support (in the U.S.). The firm is also tied to a property management arm in Britain