AES Corporation is one of the world's largest independent electrical power producers, with interests in 177 facilities in Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China , Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, United Kingdom, Venezuela and United States. The company supplies more than 59 gigawatts of electricity worldwide to 16 million customers through its electricity distribution network. The company's operations are grouped into four main business segments: contract generation; Competitive sourcing; Large public services; and distribution of growth. AES was the invention of Roger W. Sant and Dennis W. Bakke, who had served together in the Federal Energy Administration (FEA) during the Nixon and Ford administrations in the early to mid-1970s. a key role in drafting the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA). This law was part of the federal government's attempt to address the American energy crisis, which, according to the prevailing view at the time, was largely caused by American dependence on foreign oil. Seeking to reduce this dependence, PURPA required electric utilities to meet any need for new energy by seeking qualified cogenerators and small-scale independent power producers from the private sector. Alongside this success, AES launched a reputation as one of the most socially conscious and organizationally innovative companies in the world. Such distinctions were a legacy of Sant and Bakke and a direct consequence of their origins. Bakke was a devout Christian who readily acknowledged that his religious beliefs formed the basis of his worldview. Sant, too, was raised Christian, particularly Mormon, and was an ardent environmentalist. Moreover, Bakke and Sant shared a common formative work experience within the federal bureaucracy, which inspired in them a deep and abiding distrust of centralized public or private sector bureaucracies. Nevertheless, their youthful and idealistic desire to work for government translated into a strong and lifelong commitment to public service. Such principles and beliefs have made AES a rather unique company. Indeed, Bakke and Sant argued that the company's primary goal was to build and maintain a business that embodies their shared values, particularly integrity, fairness, fun and social responsibility. According to them, a company that embodied these values ​​would most likely make money. However, for AES, profits were neither an end in themselves nor the main reason for the company's existence. Rather, according to Bakke and Sant, money was the natural and inevitable byproduct of the company's shared values..