A public utility (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies.

The term utilities can also refer to the set of services provided by these organizations consumed by the public: electricity, natural gas, water and sewage. Telephone services may also be included.

In the United States of America they are often natural monopolies because the infrastructure required to produce and deliver a product such as electricity or water is very expensive to build and maintain. As a result, they are often government monopolies, or if privately owned, the sectors are specially regulated by a Public Utilities Commission.

Developments in technology have eroded some of the natural monopoly aspects of traditional public utilities. For instance, electricity generation, electricity retailing, telecommunication and postal services have become competitive in some countries and the trend towards liberalization, deregulation and privatization of public utilities is growing, but the network infrastructure used to distribute most utility products and services has remained largely monopolistic.

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.Fact: date=July 2008

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, but in some developing countries utilities do provide services to a large share of the urban population, such as in the case of water and sanitation in Latin America.

Common classifications of utilities in the United States

• CWD – County Water District
• FCWCD – Flood Control and Water Conservation District
• FWSD – Fresh Water Supply District
• ID – Irrigation District
• IOU - Investor-owned utility
• MWA – Municipal Water Authority
• MWD – Municipal Water District
• MUD – Municipal Utility District
• PUD – Public Utility District
• WA – Water Agency
• WCID – Water Control and Improvement District
• WD – Water District
• WS – Water System
• WSC – Water Supply Corporation

See also

• Lists of public utilities
• Electric utility
• Telephone company
• Water industry