A public utility (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure Infrastructure can be defined as the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, for a public service Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus (usually expressed through democratic elections) that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income. Even where public (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. Common arguments in favor of regulation include the desire to control market power, facilitate competition, promote investment or system expansion, or stabilize markets. In general, though, regulation occurs when the government believes that the operator, left to his own devices, would behave in a way that is contrary to the government’s objectives. In some countries an early solution to this perceived problem was government provision of the utility service. However, this approach raised its own problems. Some governments used the state-provided utility services to pursue political agendas, as a source of cash flow for funding other government activities, or as a means of obtaining hard currency. These and other consequences of state provision of utility services often resulted in inefficiency and poor service quality. As a result, governments began to seek other solutions, namely regulation and providing services on a commercial basis, often through private participation.[1]
The term utilities can also refer to the set of services provided by these organizations consumed by the public: electricity An electric utility is a company that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major provider of energy in most countries. Electricity is an integral part of life in the Developed world. It is indispensable to factories, commercial, natural gas A public 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. Common arguments in favor of regulation include, water The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services to households and industry and sewage The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services to households and industry. Telephone services A telephone company provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications. Most of the largest telcos, whatever their origins, are or were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies. These monopolies are often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs may also be included.
In the United States of America The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south they are often natural monopolies In economics, a natural monopoly occurs when, due to the economies of scale of a particular industry, the maximum efficiency of production and distribution is realized through a single supplier because the infrastructure required to produce and deliver a product such as electricity or water is very expensive to build and maintain.[2] As a result, they are often government monopolies, or if privately owned, the sectors are specially regulated Regulation refers to "controlling human or societal behaviour by rules or restrictions." Regulation can take many forms: legal restrictions promulgated by a government authority, self-regulation, social regulation , co-regulation and market regulation. One can consider regulation as actions of conduct imposing sanctions (such as a fine) by a public utilities commission A Utilities commission, Utility Regulatory Commission , Public Utilities Commission (PUC) or Public Service Commission (PSC) is a governing body that regulates the rates and services of a public utility.
Developments in technology have eroded some of the natural monopoly In economics, a natural monopoly occurs when, due to the economies of scale of a particular industry, the maximum efficiency of production and distribution is realized through a single supplier aspects of traditional public utilities. For instance, electricity generation The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820's and early 1830's by the British scientist Michael Faraday. His basic method is still used today: electricity is generated by the movement of a loop of wire, or disc of copper between the poles of a magnet, electricity retailing Electricity retailing is the final process in the delivery of electricity from generation to the consumer. The other main processes are transmission and distribution, telecommunication Telecommunication is the assisted transmission over a distance for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, this may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums, semaphore, flags or heliograph. In modern times, telecommunication typically involves the use of electronic devices such as the telephone, television, radio or computer. Early and postal services Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post have become competitive in some countries and the trend towards liberalization In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. Liberalization of autocratic regimes may precede democratization (or not, as in the case of the Prague Spring), deregulation Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces. Deregulation does not mean elimination of laws against fraud, but eliminating or reducing government control of how business is done, thereby moving toward a more free market and privatization Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector (business). In a broader sense, privatization refers to transfer of any government function to the private sector including governmental functions like revenue collection and law 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 The term privately held company refers to the ownership of a business company in two different ways: first, referring to ownership by non-governmental organizations; and second, referring to ownership of the company's stock by a relatively small number of holders who do not trade the stock publicly on the stock market. Less ambiguous terms for a or publicly owned A government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise or government business enterprise is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial or business activities on behalf of an owner government. There is no standard definition of a government-owned corporation or state-owned enterprise (SOE), although the two terms can be used. Publicly owned utilities include cooperative and municipal utilities. Municipal A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council utilities may actually include territories outside of city limits or may not even serve the entire city. Cooperative utilities A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members. Profits are either reinvested for infrastructure or distributed to members in the form of "patronage" or "capital credits", which are essentially dividends paid on are owned by the customers they serve. They are usually found in rural Rural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low population density. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country. Rural areas occupy the remaining 98 percent areas. Private utilities, also called investor owned utilities, are owned by investors Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in business management, finance and economics, related to saving or deferring consumption. Investing is the active redirection of resources: from being consumed today, to creating benefits in the future; the use of assets to earn income or profit.[citation needed] Unlike private companies, private utilities may be listed on the stock exchange A stock exchange, is a corporation or mutual organization which provides "trading" facilities for stock brokers and traders, to trade stocks and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of securities as well as other financial instruments and capital events including the payment of income and.[citation needed] Private, in this context, means not owned by the public Public, adj, is of or pertaining to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; opposed to private; as, the public treasury, a road or lake. Public, n, is also defined as the people of a nation not affiliated with the government of that nation or the government A government is the body within an organization that has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations, control and direct the actions or behavior of the individuals within the organization and deal with everyday administrative issues.
In poorer developing countries A developing country is a country that has low standards of democratic governments, civil service, industrialization, social programs, and/or human rights guarantees that are yet to "develop" to those met in the developed world.[citation needed] or alternative goals of material progress[citation needed] . It is often[when?] a term used, public utilities are often limited to wealthier parts of major cities, as used to be the case in developed countries The term developed country is used to describe countries that have a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue and there is fierce debate about this. Economic criteria have tended to dominate discussions. One such criterion is income per 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 Water supply and sanitation in Latin America is characterized by insufficient access and in many cases by poor service quality, with detrimental impacts on public health. Water and sanitation services are provided by a vast array of mostly local service providers under an often fragmented policy and regulatory framework. Financing of water and.
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Common classifications of utilities in the United States
- CWD – County Water District
- FCWCD – Flood Control and Water Conservation District
- FWSD – Fresh Water Supply District A fresh water supply district is in charge of fresh water supply to a defined area in the United States
- ID – Irrigation District
- IOU - Investor-owned utility An investor-owned utility or IOU is a business organization, providing a product or service regarded as a utility , and managed as private enterprise rather than a function of government or a consumer cooperative. Such businesses can range from a family whose residential property includes a well whose flow in excess of the family's own needs
- MWA – Municipal Water Authority
- MWD – Municipal Water District
- MUD – Municipal Utility District
- PUD – Public Utility District A public utility district is a special-purpose district or other governmental jurisdiction that provides public utilities (such as electricity, natural gas, sewage treatment, waste collection/management, wholesale telecommunications, water) to the residents of that district
- WA – Water Agency
- WCID – Water Control and Improvement District
- WD – Water District
- WS – Water System The provision of tap water requires a massive infrastructure of piping, pumps, and water purification works. The direct cost of the tap water alone, however, is a small fraction of that of bottled water, which can cost from 240 to 10,000 times as much for the same amount
- WSC – Water Supply Corporation
See also
- Lists of public utilities Categories: Public utilities | Lists of companies by industry
- Electric utility An electric utility is a company that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major provider of energy in most countries. Electricity is an integral part of life in the Developed world. It is indispensable to factories, commercial
- Telephone company A telephone company provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications. Most of the largest telcos, whatever their origins, are or were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies. These monopolies are often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs
- Water industry The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services to households and industry
- Common utility duct A common utility duct, sometimes called a common utility conduit, is any structure – above, on, or below ground – that carries more than two types of public utility lines. However, the phrase often refers specifically to underground tunnels
- Electricity market In economic terms, electricity is a commodity capable of being bought and sold. An electricity market is a system for effecting the purchase and sale of electricity, using supply and demand to set the price. Wholesale transactions in electricity are typically cleared and settled by the grid operator or a special-purpose independent entity charged
- Energy In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of work that can be performed by a force, an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law. Different forms of energy include kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, light, elastic, and electromagnetic energy. The forms of energy are
- Firm service Firm services, also called uninterruptible services, are services, such as electricity and natural gas supplies, that are intended to be available at all times during a period covered by an agreement. Also, the service is not subject to a prior claim from another customer and receives the same priority as any other firm service. Conditional firm
- Liberalization In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. Liberalization of autocratic regimes may precede democratization (or not, as in the case of the Prague Spring)
- NAICS 22 NAICS 22 is the section of the NAICS system in Canada, the United States and Mexico which deals specifically with utilities in those countries
- National Rural Water Association The National Rural Water Association and its affiliated state rural water associations is the largest water and wastewater utility membership organization in the United States of America. The NRWA is a professional organization that supports rural and small water utilities throughout the nation. NRWA and its state affiliates are organized as a non-
- Off-the-grid Off-grid homes are autonomous—i.e. do not rely on municipal water supply, sewer, natural gas, electrical power grid or similar utility services. A true "off the grid" or "off-grid" house is able to operate completely independently of all traditional public utility services. The idea has been recently popularized by certain
- Public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus (usually expressed through democratic elections) that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income. Even where public
- Rate Case A rate case is the formal process which industries that have the legal designation of public utility are mandated to go through in order to set the rate at which they are allowed to charge consumers for their service. Rate cases serve as one of the primary instruments of government regulation of such industries
- Telecommunications Telecommunication is the assisted transmission over a distance for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, this may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums, semaphore, flags or heliograph. In modern times, telecommunication typically involves the use of electronic devices such as the telephone, television, radio or computer. Early
- Universal service
- Utility cooperative
- Infrastructure
References
External links
- refabrica.com - Latest News in Utilities and Information Technology
Categories: Public utilities | Political economy | Monopoly (economics)
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Q. In that area what is do be placed in that easement. Myself and 4-5 other residents in my neighborhood are having problems with the county doing the proper drainage in front of our house. On my plat it shows no drainage easement but it does show a P.U.E. is that where my drainage goes as well? Can anyone help me on the route I need to take?
Asked by dat - Sat Sep 9 22:26:48 2006 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments
A. Yes, PUE does mean Public Utility Easement. Contact your County (or city) 'Department of Public Works'. They should be listed under Government Numbers in your phone book. This is the department that approves PUEs. They will be able to tell you what the easement is for and what their responsibilities are in providing proper drainage for your home. It is possible that the developer was supposed to provide drainage or that it is your responsibility. This is the place to find out.,
Answered by nonna_barbara - Sat Sep 9 23:02:01 2006
