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

Derived Forms

• public-utility
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of public utility

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

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

The model now providing depoliticized ATC in nearly 100 countries is an aviation public utility, funded entirely by system fees and charges.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025

Southern California Edison, based in Rosemead, is an investor-owned public utility that provides electricity to about 15 million people across a 50,000-square-mile area in Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2025

He had recruited the architects to design the public buildings with a distinctive aesthetic that would make them as much art as public utility.

From New York Times • Feb. 4, 2024

The municipal towns relied largely on the voluntary munificence of their wealthy members for great works of public utility or splendour.

From Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Dill, Samuel