Essential Power™ is an owner-operator of a portfolio of clean, efficient and responsive power generating assets located in two of the most attractive power markets in North America, PJM and ISO-NE. What sets apart Essential Power from other power companies is our assets, our employees, our owners and our focus.
Our assets utilize clean-burning natural gas as our primary fuel. In fact, 95% of the fuel used to run our power stations is natural gas — a clean, domestic source of fuel. An important but smaller part of our portfolio consists of assets that produce electricity from turbines operated by river flows, known as run-of-river hydro power stations. To provide assurances of our ability to start up and run in the event of natural gas supply disruptions, we also maintain on-site storage of back-up liquid fuel to provide power when it's needed most. And, lastly, most of our power generation assets are newer models that are more efficient, more environmentally friendly and more cost effective to maintain. As a result of the make-up of the portfolio, our environmental footprint from power generation is significantly lower than a traditional utility company that often includes coal-based power generation. In fact, our carbon footprint is less than 46% of that of the typical coal-fired utility power generating fleet. We're proud of our environmental impact.
As important as it is to own the right kinds of assets in the right markets, our employees are what really make the difference at Essential Power. They truly are essential to our success. Just as we all expect fire fighters or EMTs to rapidly respond when they 'get the call', our power stations are staffed 24 * 7 by a team of dedicated operations and maintenance employees who make sure we respond rapidly every time we get the call to start and run. When a call comes in to our power generating station, our employees make sure we start and we often come up to full capability within 10 minutes. To augment this rapid response capability, our more efficient combined-cycle gas power plants take a bit longer to reach full capability but are some of the most efficient in the industry. So, in many respects, our teams think and act like emergency 'first responders' and could be known as the 'first responders of the power business'. They have a long and proud history of maintaining the stations to be available and ready to run on short notice. They are a vital part of the communities in which we operate and maintain a laser-like focus on safety, environmental stewardship and rapid response.
Our owners are another differentiating factor at Essential Power. Our owners, through Industry Funds Management (IFM), recognize power-generating assets have expected lives of 40-50 years and require a long-term investment horizon. Our owners aren't in the business for 'quick hits', but rather in it for the long haul. Their focus ensures our ability to maintain these assets for safe and environmentally compliant operations for the long term and the necessary funds to invest in operational and productivity enhancements. We are fortunate to have owners with a long-term history of investing in infrastructure-related assets with a longer-term view of the power business, owners who made a conscious decision to invest in 'clean energy' assets making up the Essential Power portfolio. Since they're in it for the long haul, they know these assets will become more important and valuable as we continue to meet the growing appetite for electricity in a carbon-constrained world.
Finally, at Essential Power, our only business is power generation. It's all we do. It's what we love. It's a part of our 'DNA'. Our focus is to continue to improve every week so we keep providing power when it's needed in a cost-effective, environmentally responsible and safe manner. Doing so will provide a valuable service to our customers and strong financial returns to our owners. That's the Power of Essential Power!