Cousins to the gladiola, these are hardy plants that produce clumps of green sword-shaped leaves, with tall, arching spikes of funnel-shaped blossoms appearing in mid to late summer.
The 10 biggest U.S. electric utilities visualized. Duke Energy's merger with Progress Energy, completed in July 2012, created the largest electric utility in the United States. In fact, two of the three largest U.S. utilities are the result of recent mergers. Exelon, third on the list of the 10 biggest U.S. utilities, merged with Constellation Energy in March 2012. Duke will now service 7 million retail customers across six states.
The Perrier Group of America has been a subsidiary of Perrier Vittel S.A. since 1992, and it is currently the largest bottled water company in the United States. The Perrier Group of America's sales have more than doubled over the course of five years. Its share of U.S. bottled water sales increased from about one-quarter in 1996 to nearly one-third by 2001. Its wholesale dollar sales increased by 23.5% in 2001, surpassing $2 billion.