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. It is indispensable to factories, commercial establishments, homes, and even most recreational facilities. Lack of, 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. In some cases, government bodies with the title "Public Service Commission" may be civil service oversight bodies, rather than.
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 activities on behalf of an owner government, and are usually considered to be an element or part of the state. There is no standard definition of a government-owned corporation or state-owned. 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.
In poorer developing countries Developing country is a term generally used to describe a nation with a low level of material well being. There is no single internationally-recognized definition of developed country, and the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries, with some developing countries having high average standards of living, 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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Q. Why dont the US govt declare oil a public utility and regulate astronomical gas prices destroying our economy?
Asked by shoreke - Thu May 1 04:10:40 2008 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments
A. hmmm... price controls... it would be more effective to dump the national oil reserves on the market... drive the price down to below two dollars... it wud be cheaper... and heck... then restore the stategic reserve at a lower price...
Answered by Dennis C - Thu May 1 04:27:00 2008
