ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Public service company

Imagine if someone offered to provide electricity, water, or gas to every house in your neighborhood, and they didn't charge any extra money for doing so. This is what a public service company does!

A public service company (or utility company) is a business that is owned by the government or by the people who use its services. Its main job is to provide essential services like electricity, water, and gas to homes and businesses in a certain area.

Utility companies have a lot of important responsibilities. For example, they need to make sure that there is enough electricity or water to meet the needs of everybody who uses it. They also need to keep their equipment and infrastructure (like power lines, pipes, and dams) in good shape so that they can keep providing these important services.

In exchange for providing these services, the utility company charges people for the amount of energy or water that they use. This money helps pay for the upkeep of all the equipment and infrastructure that the company uses, and also helps pay the salaries of the people who work there.

Even though utility companies are businesses, they have a lot of regulations and oversight from the government. This is because they provide such important services to people, and the government wants to make sure that they are doing their job properly and that people are not being overcharged.

So, in summary, a public service company is a business that provides essential services like electricity, water, and gas to homes and businesses in a certain area. They are owned by the government or the people who use them, and they charge people for the amount of energy or water that they use.