A public utilities commission is a

quasi-governmental A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

body that provides oversight and/or regulation of

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 ...

in a particular area (locality, municipality, or subnational division), especially in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The utilities in question may be owned by the consumers that it serves, a mutual utility like a public utility district, a state-owned utility, or it may be a stockholder-owned utility either publicly traded on a stock exchange or closely held among just a few investors. These utilities often operate as legal monopolies, which means that they do not compete in a marketplace but are instead regulated by commissions to ensure fair pricing.

Canada

In Canada, a public utilities commission (PUC) is a

public utility 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 ...

regulator, typically a semi-independent quasi-judicial tribunal, owned and operated within a municipal or local government system under the oversight of one or more elected commissioners. Its role is analogous to a

municipal utility district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

or public utility district in the US. Below are the PUCs in Canada: * Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities (Newfoundland and Labrador) * British Columbia Utilities Commission * Manitoba Public Utilities Board * New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board * Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board *

Ontario Energy Board The Ontario Energy Board is the provincial regulator of natural gas and electricity utilities in Ontario, Canada. This includes setting rates, and licensing all participants in the electricity sector including the Independent Electricity System O ...

* PEI Regulatory and Appeals Commission Former commissions in Ontario include: * Berlin Public Utilities Commission (1906–1916) in Berlin, Ontario * Brantford Public Utilities Commission (–2001) in

Brantford, Ontario Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County but is politically separate wi ...

* Galt Public Utilities Commission (1962–1973) in

Galt, Ontario Galt is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River. Prior to 1973, it was an independent city, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the village o ...

Kitchener Public Utilities Commission The Kitchener Public Utilities Commission (KPUC, or PUC) was the municipal public utilities commission for the city of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, as well as the surrounding area. Its former office in downtown Kitchener, constructed in 1931 in ...

(1916–1973)

United States

In the United States, a public utilities commission (PUC), which may also be named a public service commission (PSC), corporation commission, or similar, is a governing body that regulates the rates and services of a

, such as an

electric utility An electric utility, or a power company, is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. Electric utilities are ...

. In some cases, government bodies with the title "public service commission" may be civil service oversight bodies, rather than utilities regulators. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners is the national association representing the interests of the public utilities commissions in all 50 states. The

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

and

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

perform similar functions in their respective fields in the United States. The first state utility regulator was the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, founded in 1907 under Governor

Robert M. La Follette Robert Marion La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), nicknamed "Fighting Bob," was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906. ...

to set minimum standards and regulate rates of monopoly utilities.

PUCs in the US by state

Local PUCs

Other countries

;Americas * Bahamas: Bahamas Public Utilities Commission * Belize: Belize Public Utilities Commission * Caribbean: Organisation of Caribbean Utility Regulators (OOCUR) * Chile: Superintendencia de Servicios Sanitarios de Chile * Costa Rica: Costa Rica Public Utilities Commission *Dominican Republic: c Utilities Commission ;Others * France: Commission de Régulation de l'Energie * Ghana: Public Utility Regulation Council of Ghana (PURC) * Sri Lanka: Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka

References

External links

Public Service Commissioner (state executive office)
- List of current commissioners from

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

List of regulatory commissions
by state compiled by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. {{authority control Economics of regulation

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...