 EGAT's net profits have declined 3.5 to 4 percent per year for the last several years, in concert with its share of power generation dipping to 36 percent in 2017 from 55 percent over a decade ago.Independent power producers (IPP) ramped up production over the last four years, from a few hundred megawatts to nearly 3,000 MW at the end of 2017.As IPP-supplied power purchases increase, EGAT's profits decline.