Dive Brief:

• TECO Energy, based in Tampa, Florida, wants to grow organically, but is open to buying electric and gas utilities, company officials said during an earnings conference call.
• TECO is considering selling its coal mining operations to “simplify our story” for investors, John Ramil, TECO president and CEO, said.
• TECO's customer base is growing by 1.5% a year, but individual customers are using about 0.3% less electricity each for an overall 1.2% annual sales growth pace.

Dive Insight:

Tampa Electric, TECO's main subsidiary, has fairly robust growth at 1.2% a year. But there's nothing like buying another utility to jumpstart growth. TECO is buying a major gas utility in New Mexico so the company doesn't mind having a wide geographic spread.