What is a Public Utility? | Truckee Donner Public Utility District

Did you know Truckee Donner PUD is a Public Utility?

There are a total of 2,000 community-powered, not-for-profit electric utilities in the U.S., that collectively provide electricity to 49 million Americans. Read on to learn more about the many ways in which Public Power benefits the Truckee community.

What is a Publicly Owned Utility (POU)?

Map of all the Publicly Owned Utilities in California

Publicly- owned utilities are not-for-profit agencies that supply and deliver electricity to their communities. POUs are also governed by a locally-elected officials. Truckee Donner PUD is a public-owned utility that provides power and water to most of Truckee, and has been doing so for nearly 100 years!

There are 49 POUs in California, serving 25% of the state’s population. These agencies are diverse in size and service area. Some have only hundreds of customers, while others have millions. POUs can be found in many different areas, from urban cities to rural communities, and from mountains to valleys and deserts

Publicly Owned Utility (POU) v. Investor Owned Utility (IOU)

Flow chart that explains the operations of a Publicly Owned Utility

The alternative to a publicly-owned utility is an investor-owned utility (IOU). Since public utilities are locally-owned and not-for-profit, they are accountable to the communities they serve, and have a mandate to be fiscally responsible. They focus on safety, reliability, affordability and sustainability. Not only do public utilities receive state and federal oversight, but they are overseen by their own community and ratepayers through the Board of Directors that the community elects to govern the utility. They also encourage public engagement, and ensure that the decisions and direction of the utility is in line with the community's wants and needs. Many public utility employees often live in the community and are ratepayers as well.

Flow chart that explains the operations of an Investor Owned Utility

On the other hand, investor-owned utilities are for-profit, which makes them accountable to their shareholders over their ratepayers. In Northern California, the major investor-owned utilities are PG&E and Liberty Utilities. Their focus is on maximizing financial return over affordability. And while IOUs also receive state and federal oversight, the local community does not have any oversight on their operations in the way POUs do. Their board meetings are closed sessions, meaning there is no opportunity for public engagement; unlike POUs board meetings, which are open to the public and often livestreamed and recorded.

The Benefits of Getting Your Power from a POU

Publicly-owned: Truckee Donner PUD is a special district, meaning it is a local government agency. Decisions about how the utility operates are made here in the community.

Locally-governed: Do you like to have a say in how your community is run? TDPUD is overseen by a Board of Directors that Truckee voters elect.

Not-for-profit: Affordability is at the core of POUs’ identities. Being not-for-profit gives us the ability to prioritize ratepayers over shareholders. The majority of POUs in California have less expensive electric rates than IOUs.

How TDPUD Serves the Truckee Community

One of TDPUD’s main focuses is on how to balance what can be competing priorities: investing in projects that improve system reliability and community safety, pursuing carbon-free energy resources and fulfilling regulatory mandates, and still keeping rates affordable.

Reliable & Safe Service

TDPUD knows how important power and water service reliability is to the community, and is investing in capital projects that maintain and improve our infrastructure in a responsible way. Repairing water leaks and constructing new pipelines, replacing aging and outdated electric poles and wires, and managing vegetation to keep power lines clear are all ways that TDPUD incrementally improves our system’s reliability, in a way that doesn’t break the bank.

Affordable Rates

Tumultuous energy markets, state and federal mandates and unexpected variables like extreme weather have put a lot of pressure on the cost of energy over the last year. TDPUD is strategic in how it plans for the future, so we were able to use reserve funds to weather the energy price spikes in late 2022/early 2023 without having to burden our customers with emergency rate increases. While globally increasing prices and other pressures will have an effect on TDPUD rates in 2024, we are working hard to keep our rates as affordable as possible and minimize the impact to our customers.

Renewable/Carbon-Free Energy

TDPUD already gets about 60% of its energy from renewable and carbon-free resources, which is well ahead of the state’s mandates. The state has set a goal for all utilities to procure 100% clean energy by 2045. This, plus local interest in environmentalism, pushes TDPUD to continue to move the needle on carbon-free energy procurement.

Energy & Water Conservation

You might think that all TDPUD cares about is supplying the community with energy and water, but we want our customers to only use the energy and water that they need. We offer a number of incentive programs to help customers reduce their traditional energy and water use, and effectively electrify their transportation and home technologies.