In the United States, a public utility district (PUD) is a special-purpose district or other governmental jurisdiction that provides public utilities (such as electricity, natural gas, sewage treatment, waste collection/management, wholesale telecommunications, water) to the residents of that district.
PUDs are created by a local government body, such as a city, county, or metropolitan service area (two or more communities joining together for public utility purposes). Normally the districts are non-profit.
PUDs are often governed by a commission, which may be appointed or elected.
Municipal Utility Districts (MUD) are similar but have taxation authority whilePUD do not.
Historically, many of the electric PUDs in the Pacific Northwest were created with the express purpose of taking over the territory served by the investor-owned utility then serving customers within the proposed PUD's territory (and in some cases, the PUD's organizers were the only ones in favor of its creation - elections centering on the creation of a PUD often coming back with a decisive majority in favor of staying with the IOU ). The creation of many of these PUDs was also possible due to favorable laws on the books at the time and with the direct assistance of individuals in various federal agencies that were strong proponents of public ownership of electric utilities (such as Dr. Paul J. Raver of Bonneville Power Administration).
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