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Organization and Operations | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2015
Organization and Operations [Abstract] |
Organization and Operations | Organization and Operations We are a power generation company engaged in the ownership and operation of primarily natural gas-fired and geothermal power plants in North America. We have a significant presence in major competitive wholesale power markets in California (included in our West segment), Texas (included in our Texas segment) and the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions (included in our East segment) of the U.S. We sell power, steam, capacity, renewable energy credits and ancillary services to our customers, which include utilities, independent electric system operators, industrial and agricultural companies, retail power providers, municipalities and other governmental entities, power marketers as well as retail commercial, industrial and residential customers. Effective after the October 1, 2015 acquisition, we entered the retail market in scale through our retail subsidiary, Champion Energy. We purchase primarily natural gas and some fuel oil as fuel for our power plants and engage in related natural gas transportation and storage transactions. We purchase electric transmission rights to deliver power to our customers. Additionally, consistent with our Risk Management Policy, we enter into natural gas, power, environmental product, fuel oil and other physical and financial contracts to hedge certain business risks and optimize our portfolio of power plants.

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