public utility

American  

noun

1. a business enterprise, as a public-service corporation, performing an essential public service and regulated by the federal, state, or local government.

2. Usually public utilities. stocks or bonds of public-utility companies, excluding railroads.

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public utility British  

noun

1. Also called (US): public-service corporation.  an enterprise concerned with the provision to the public of essentials, such as electricity or water

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public utility Cultural  

1. A private company supplying water, gas, electricity, telephone service, or the like, which is granted a monopoly by the government and then regulated by the government.

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Other Word Forms

• public-utility
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of public utility

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

public utility

The company is working with the Tennessee Valley Authority, a public utility known as the TVA, on that project.

From Barron's ● Mar. 20, 2026

In South Carolina, public utility Santee Cooper is in talks to sell its partially built AP1000s to Brookfield, which could complete them to power AI data centers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025

“Huge profits shouldn’t be made from a public utility that everyone needs,” wrote Sharon K of Fullerton, who also declined to give her last name.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2025

Burien chose land owned by Seattle City Light, Seattle’s public utility for electricity.

From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2024

Public companies formed to carry out some undertaking of public utility, such as docks, water works, or gas works, and 902 governed by the Companies Clauses Acts, have only limited powers of borrowing.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various