Investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are

private enterprises The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit (economics), profit or Non Profit, non profit, rather than being owned by t ...

acting as

public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

. Examples may range from a family that owns a well on their property to international energy conglomerates.

References

Public utilities {{business-stub