When I started my account I began with the same amount of Steem power in brackets as you have shown in your question.

I believe it was a decision made to allow new users to vote and actually impact the reward given to a post. When I began I was able to give $0.01 each time I voted. I suppose it makes you feel like you're actually achieving something by upvoting.

The power comes from another account as delegated Steem power. You can choose to delegate your Steem power to whoever you like.

Technically I guess it's possible to have a delegated power 'whale' if enough people delegate to one user!