Electricity provider goes public, showing strength of electricity market

As it stands, less than half the U.S. has adopted some form of electricity deregulation, with many states concerned about introducing competition into its public utilities. But one company has seen enough success that it was recently able to bring its company public, putting stocks up for trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Toronto, Ontario-based Just Energy Group Inc. filed its initial public offering with the exchange at the end of January, joining a thriving group of publicly traded retail electricity providers.

"Our path to the New York Stock Exchange began in a single market as a zero base start-up in 1997," Rebecca MacDonald, co-founder and executive chair of Just Energy, said in a statement. "Today, with 1.8 million customers and $3 billion in revenues, we are very proud of the distance Just Energy has traveled, and we are excited about the opportunities that our listing will help generate in terms of the value to investors as well as customers."

With operations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Georgia and Delaware, Just Energy is one of the largest electricity companies that is entirely independent from the existing utility companies.