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

Yet Corning’s fiber actually was deployed steadily over the following decades, as the internet became a public utility.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

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

He noted that when he first moved to L.A. nearly 20 years ago, the charge to get the nation’s largest public utility off of coal was seen as audacious and even laughable.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2025

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

From Seattle Times • May 20, 2024

They were equally solicitous to afford every assistance that was calculated to render the expedition of public utility.

From Narrative of the Voyages Round the World, Performed by Captain James Cook : with an Account of His Life During the Previous and Intervening Periods by Kippis, Andrew