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:

Light - Provides electricity to customers in western Missouri and eastern Kansas.
Meta Description: [ The primary electric utility for the Kansas City metro and rural areas of Missouri and Kansas. KCPL.com is the central resource for Kansas City Power & Light news, billing information, on-line bill payment, and customer support. The site provides resources for residential and business customers,... ]
Allegheny Power System - Provides electricity to customers in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Meta Description: [ Allegheny Energy, an investor-owned utility for more than 100 years, provides reliable electric and natural gas service to more than 1.7 million customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. Businesses include: Allegheny Power, which delivers excellent customer service an... ]
American Electric Power - Provides electricity to customers in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Atmos Energy - Natural gas utility serving customers in 12 states, mostly in the Southeast.
ECONnergy Energy Co., Inc - Suppliers of deregulated energy. Natural gas and electricity. Programs throughout NY, NJ and PA.
El Paso Electric Company - Provides electricity to customers in West Texas and Southern New Mexico.
Empire District Electric Co. - Provides electricity to southwestern Missouri and parts of Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
ICAP Energy - An over-the-counter broker of natural gas, electricity and coal. Includes links and information about industry transportation, production and generation, financial markets, weather forecasting and hedging.
Meta Description: [ An innovative leader in the energy industry, ICAP Energy LLC offers full service energy brokerage services providing real-time price discovery and execution. ICAP Energy LLC has North American offices located in Louisville, Chapel Hill, Houston, Jersey City and a team on the NYMEX Floor. On cont... ]
Idaho Power - Provides electricity to Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada.
500
NUI Corp. - Natural gas utility servicing customers in New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Old Dominion Electric Cooperative - A power supply cooperative that supplies power to 14 locally owned electric cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.
Meta Description: [ Wholesale power supplier to 12 electric distribution
cooperatives that serve nearly a half million homes and businesses on the east coast. ]
Xcel Energy - Utility supplier of electric power and natural gas service in Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
| Ban Nam Sai community Phang Nga | |
| Next Video | |