Gourt > Regional > North America > United States > Alabama > Business and Economy > Public Utilities
A public utility is a company that maintains the infrastructure for a public service. Public utilities often involve natural monopolies, and as a result are often government monopolies, or if privately owned, treated as specially regulated sectors. Public utilities can be privately owned or publicly owned. Publicly owned utilities include cooperative and municipal utilities. Municipal utilities may actually include territories outside of city limits or may not even serve the entire city. Cooperative utilities are owned by the customers they serve. They are usually found in rural areas. Private utilities, also called investor owned utilities, are owned by investors. Unlike public companies, private utilities may be listed on the stock exchange. Private, in this context, means not owned by the public or the government.
In poorer developing countries, public utilities are often limited to wealthier parts of major cities, as used to be the case in developed countries in the nineteenth century.
Examples of utilities are:
- Electric Utility, which in some instances can be Electric power transmission or electricity distribution
- Drinking water purification and distribution
- Sewage treatment and disposal
- Other waste disposal
- Natural gas distribution
- District heat generation and distribution
- Public transport by bus, train, etc.
- Cable television and telephone lines
Alabama HospitalsPhysicians in Alabama
Public Utilities :: Business and Economy
Alabama Electric Cooperative - Wholesale power generator and distributor serving Southeast Alabama and Northwest Florida. Based in Andalusia, Alabama.
Alabama Municipal Electric Authority - Joint action agency serving 11 of Alabama's community owned, locally controlled, not-for-profit electric utilities.
Meta Description: [ AMEA - Power That Works For You! Our mission is to provide for our Member communities a reliable and economical supply of electric power, enabling them to preserve and enhance the benefits of municipal utility ownership for their citizens and the electric customers they serve. We strive to offe... ]
Cooperative Propane - Provides residential, commercial and agricultural services. Also installs and repairs gas and electric appliances.
Meta Description: [ Propane ]
Pioneer Electric Cooperative - Provides electricity to South and West Central Alabama. Also includes information on water, Internet services, propane and economic development.
The Electric Cooperatives of Alabama - A site featuring the 23 electric cooperatives of Alabama and their statewide trade association, the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives, which publishes the monthly magazine Alabama Living.
Meta Description: [ The Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives is a not-for-profit federation of 22 locally owned and locally controlled rural electric cooperatives. The association is itself a cooperative and is governed by a board of directors of representatives of the cooperatives it serves. ]
