The term municipalization largely refers to the transfer of ownership of utilities from Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) to public ownership, and operation, by local government whether that be at the city, county or state level. ...

How do public utilities work?

A public utility is a business that furnishes an everyday necessity to the public at large. Public utilities provide water, electricity, natural gas, telephone service, and other essentials. Utilities may be publicly or privately owned, but most are operated as private businesses.

How does an investor owned utility work?

Investor Owned Utilities are private, monopoly utilities that generate and distribute power to you, the electric customer, over their defined service territory. Typically, electricity from IOUs comes from a combination of producing their own power and purchasing electricity from public and private markets.