City Utilities Review
Not operated by government agency
Who provides electricity in the United States?
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USA utilities are delivered to homes by three main groups:
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Commercial companies run electricity and natural gas pipelines.
City governments maintain water, wastewater, trash, and recycling. Citizen co-ops develop utilities when commercial providers and local governments cannot offer service due to remoteness of location or low population density within a region. |
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Are electricity providers always investor-owned companies?
No. Utilities are not standardized in the USA. Cities can structure utilities in any format that enables full service to the most citizens. |
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Is utility cost too high?
Critics believe utility companies charge excessive premiums. How hard could it be to let power flow into homes? Actually, maintaining cables and pipelines is a massive undertaking. Energy delivery is most easily dictated by a single entity and thus natural monopolies tend to arise around utility servicing. In some markets there is only one provider, leaving consumers with few pricing options. This has led to localized experiments for new ways to create competition. In Houston, Texas residents can choose from a list of several electric companies who are authorized to pull power from the central grid. In Los Angeles, California the local government sells electricity to fund energy initiatives, endorse movement toward clean energy, and increase competition to lower costs for citizens. In New York the government incorporates performance-based regulations to reward companies for meeting renewable energy objectives. |
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Who can I contact about my utility concerns?
The Public Utilities Commission! Utility providers are regulated by the PUC, a government agency, within each state. See our PUC list here, and read our guide on how to get a utility refund for gas, electric, and water overcharges. Prior to contacting the PUC, your concern must be addressed with your service provider. If the provider is unwilling to assist you, then a case may be opened with the Public Utilities Commission using the information you collected. |
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See who provides utilities in your future home:
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Appreciation and Change
City planners previously spent all their resources on getting utilities in and out of homes. They didn’t worry about where waste went after. Wastewater was pumped into oceans and inlets. Now we focus on sustainable resources. We are diligently working on new methods to change trash into usable byproducts and to purify wastewater before returning it to the earth and its oceans. |
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American Power and Light
What are the largest US energy companies?
Pacific Gas and Electric (CA):
9.7 million utility consumer accounts
Duke Energy (NC):
9.2 million utility consumer accounts
SoCalGas (CA):
6 million utility accounts
American Water System
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How much water does the US consume daily? The USGS estimates the USA uses 90 gallons of water per day per person. This equates to 29 billion gallons of water daily. Water usage swells to 350 billion gallons each day when including commercial and agricultural consumption. |
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Gas Pipeline
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How many natural gas pipelines are in the USA? The EIA calculates 210 natural gas transmission pipelines extend over 300,000 miles within the United States and lead to over 2 million miles of distribution pipelines. |
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Waste Collection
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How much trash does the USA create daily? The EPA estimates the USA creates 5 pound of trash per day per person. This equates to 1.6 million pounds of trash daily considering the current population. |
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