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54-585: Tacoma Public Utilities is the public utility service for the city of Tacoma, Washington . It was formed in 1893 when the citizens of Tacoma voted to buy the privately owned Tacoma Light & Water Company . It is the largest department in Tacoma City government, with a 2015–2016 budget of $ 1.2 billion and 1,378 employees. Operations are funded entirely by revenue generated from sale of services, not from taxes. There are three operating divisions of Tacoma Public Utilities. This Washington -related article

108-474: A balance between the economy and the ecosystem one lives within, and possible trade-offs between economic development, and the welfare of society and the environment. Social responsibility pertains not only to business organizations but also to everyone whose actions impact the environment. Writers in the classical Western philosophical tradition acknowledged the importance of social responsibility for human thriving . Aristotle determined that "Man

162-543: A company follows the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for emissions of dangerous pollutants and goes further to involve the community and address concerns the public might have, they might be less likely to have the EPA investigate them. According to some experts, most rules and regulations are formed due to public outcry, which threatens profit maximization and therefore

216-565: A decrease in the efficiency of monopolistic companies. To protect the interests of consumers from unjustified overpricing and substandard service, there are special regulatory bodies whose powers are regulated by the Law "On Natural Monopolies" and other regulatory acts. Main functions: Interaction at different levels: It is important to note that the powers to regulate the activities of natural monopolies are distributed between federal and local authorities.  Effective coordination of their actions

270-526: A governmental body may attempt to improve its image or attract investment. Traditionally, public services have been provided by public legal entities, which operate much like corporations, but differ in that profit is not necessary for a functional business. A significant factor in government ownership has been to reduce the risk that an activity, if left to private initiative, may be considered not sufficiently profitable and neglected. Many utilities are essential for human life, national defense, or commerce, and

324-399: A political context). He believed that the polis is meant to be "a community of equals for the sake of a life which is potentially the best." Some of the virtues in his scheme of virtue ethics , like magnificence and justice were inseparable from a sense of social responsibility. Cicero believed that "In no other realm does human excellence approach so closely the paths of

378-532: A power and utilities industry outlook report by Deloitte identified a number of trends for the utilities industry: Issues faced by public utilities include: Alternative pricing methods include: Utility stocks are considered stable investments because they typically provide regular dividends to shareholders and have more stable demand. Even in periods of economic downturns characterized by low interest rates , such stocks are attractive because dividend yields are usually greater than those of other stocks, so

432-572: A public utilities commission, or an institution that represents the government. There are many different types of public utilities. Some, especially large companies , offer multiple products, such as electricity and natural gas. Other companies specialize in one specific product, such as water. Modern public utilities may also be partially (or completely) sourced from clean and renewable energy in order to produce sustainable electricity. Of these, wind turbines and solar panels are those used most frequently. Whether broadband internet access should be

486-484: A public utility is a question that was being discussed with the rise of internet usage. This is a question that was being asked due to the telephone service being considered a public utility. Since arguably broadband internet access has taken over telephone service, perhaps it should be a public utility. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States in 2015 made their stance on this issue clear. Due to

540-556: A slightly positive correlation with improved shareholder returns. While many corporations include social responsibility in their operations, those procuring their goods and services may also independently ensure these products are socially sustainable . Verification tools are available from many entities internationally, for example the Underwriters Laboratories environmental standards, BioPreferred , and Green Seal . A corporate reputation aligned with social responsibility

594-549: A slow return of capital ; last, technical difficulties can occur in the management of plurality of networks, example in the city subsoil . Public pressure for renewable energy as a replacement for legacy fossil fuel power has steadily increased since the 1980s. As the technology needed to source the necessary amount of energy from renewable sources is still under study, public energy policy has been focused on short term alternatives such as natural gas (which still produces substantial carbon dioxide ) or nuclear power . In 2021

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648-410: A special and greater responsibility than average citizens with respect to the generation and use of scientific knowledge. Some argue that because of the complexity of social responsibility in research, scientists and engineers should not be blamed for all the evils created by new scientific knowledge and technological innovations. First, there is fragmentation and diffusion of responsibility: Because of

702-520: A system with an administrative nature of relations, where the authorities have the authority to issue mandatory instructions for these companies. Proponents of such a system emphasize that it allows the authorities to directly influence the commercial activities of public utilities, ensuring their compliance with state interests. This can be expressed in: However, such a system has its drawbacks. Excessive government intervention can lead to: Resource efficiency: Despite these limitations, utilities within

756-519: A three-year agreement with the aim of working together to modernize the country's infrastructure. As part of this agreement, the EBRD will allocate funds for the implementation of a number of important projects aimed at: In addition to these two key areas, the EBRD will continue to support other initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of citizens of Kazakhstan. In the United Kingdom and Ireland ,

810-480: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Public utility Public utilities are meant to supply goods and services that are considered essential; water , gas , electricity , telephone , waste disposal , and other communication systems represent much of the public utility market. The transmission lines used in the transportation of electricity , or natural gas pipelines , have natural monopoly characteristics. A monopoly can occur when it finds

864-414: Is an ethical concept in which a person works and cooperates with other people and organizations for the benefit of the community. An organization can demonstrate social responsibility in several ways, for instance, by donating, encouraging volunteerism , using ethical hiring procedures, and making changes that benefit the environment. Social responsibility is an individual responsibility that involves

918-402: Is by being careful not to spread information that you have not diligently vetted for its truth. In the modern information environment, "the stakes of credulity are simply too high," says Francisco Mejia Uribe. Socially responsible people have "the moral obligation to believe only what we have diligently investigated." And a socially responsible person "in her capacity as communicator of belief… has

972-485: Is by nature a political animal." He saw ethics and politics as mutually-reinforcing: a citizen develops the virtues in large part so that they can contribute to making the polis an excellent and stable one. And the purpose of that was so that the polis would be fertile soil in which a thriving, virtuous citizenry could grow (and in order that there could be an appropriate political context in which one could successfully practice virtues like justice which require

1026-467: Is linked to higher profits, particularly when firms voluntarily report the positive and negative impacts of their social responsibility endeavors. Certification processes like these help corporations and their consumers identify potential risks associated with a product's lifecycle and enable end users to confirm the corporation's practices adhere to social responsibility ideals. A reputation for social responsibility leads to more positive responses toward

1080-456: Is necessary to ensure coordinated work and achieve common goals. As a result, the activities of the regulatory authorities of natural monopolies are aimed at ensuring a balance between the interests of consumers, utility companies and the state. 2017 was marked by a new round of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The parties signed

1134-613: The Eastern Interconnection , the Texas Interconnection , which is a single ISO, and the Western Interconnection . U.S. utilities historically operated with a high degree of financial leverage and low interest coverage ratios compared to industrial companies. Investors accepted these credit characteristics because of the regulation of the industry and the belief that there was minimal bankruptcy risk because of

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1188-454: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) notes that additional investments are needed to improve the efficiency and reliability of these systems. The analysis conducted by the EBRD revealed a number of problems faced by heating, water supply and sewerage systems in Kazakhstan. The report also provides examples of cities where networks are being upgraded with the support of

1242-730: The Water Industry Commission for Scotland and the Utility Regulator in the United Kingdom, and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and the Commission for Communications Regulation in the Republic of Ireland. Disabled community transport services may occasionally be included within the definition. They were mostly privatised in the UK during the 1980s. The first public utility in

1296-550: The EBRD. These projects demonstrate how the introduction of modern technologies can improve the efficiency, reliability and environmental friendliness of heating, water supply and sewerage systems. Upgrading infrastructure is not just a matter of convenience. It is of vital importance for public health, environmental protection and ensuring the sustainable development of the economy of Kazakhstan. In most cases, public utilities in Kazakhstan are state-owned, which means that their activities are directly regulated by akimats. This creates

1350-521: The Ignorant Scientist : "Ignorance is not an excuse precisely because scientists can be blamed for being ignorant." Another point of view is that responsibility falls on those who provide the funding for the research and technological developments (in most cases corporations and government agencies). Because taxpayers provide the funds for government-sponsored research, they and the politicians that represent them should perhaps be held accountable for

1404-510: The U.S. holds that rates paid by a utility's customers should be set at a level which assures that the utility can provide reliable service at reasonable cost. Over the years, various changes have dramatically re-shaped the mission and focus of many public utility commissions. Their focus has typically shifted from the up-front regulation of rates and services to the oversight of competitive marketplaces and enforcement of regulatory compliance. Social responsibility Social responsibility

1458-512: The UNESCO International Bioethics Committee particularly in relation to child and maternal welfare. The International Organization for Standardization will "encourage voluntary commitment to social responsibility and will lead to common guidance on concepts, definitions and methods of evaluation." Ethical decision-making by businesses can prevent costly government intervention in those businesses. For instance, if

1512-520: The United States was a grist mill erected on Mother Brook in Dedham, Massachusetts , in 1640. In the U.S., public utilities provide services at the consumer level, be it residential, commercial, or industrial consumer. Utilities, merchant power producers and very large consumers buy and sell bulk electricity at the wholesale level through a network of regional transmission organizations (RTO) and independent system operators (ISO) within one of three grids,

1566-582: The actions of one generation have consequences for their posterity, and also can be more or less respectful for their ancestors. Social responsibility can require a degree of boldness or courage . Alexander Solzhenitsyn , for example, believed that "we have gotten used to regarding as valor only valor in war (or the kind that's needed for flying in outer space), the kind which jingle-jangles with medals. We have forgotten another concept of valor—civil valor . And that's all our society needs, just that, just that, just that!". Another way to be socially responsible

1620-574: The best way to minimize its costs through economies of scale to the point where other companies cannot compete with it. For example, if many companies are already offering electricity, the additional installation of a power plant will only disadvantage the consumer as prices could be increased. If the infrastructure already exists in a given area, minimal benefit is gained through competing. In other words, these industries are characterized by economies of scale in production. Though it can be mentioned that these natural monopolies are handled or watched by

1674-904: The commercial activities related to associated electric, natural gas , telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and/or passenger transportation companies. For example, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas regulate the utility companies in California and Texas, respectively, on behalf of their citizens and ratepayers (customers). These public utility commissions (PUCs) are typically composed of commissioners, who are appointed by their respective governors, and dedicated staff that implement and enforce rules and regulations, approve or deny rate increases, and monitor/report on relevant activities. Ratemaking practice in

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1728-492: The company must offer higher yields to attract bond investors , driving up the utility's interest expenses. If the company's debt load and interest expense becomes too large, its credit rating will deteriorate, further increasing the cost of capital and potentially limiting access to the capital markets. Public utilities in Kazakhstan include heating, water supply, sewerage, electricity and communications systems. A report by

1782-690: The cost of adding another customer is small, and duplication of facilities would be wasteful. As a result, utilities were either government monopolies, or if investor-owned, regulated by a public utilities commission . In the electric utility industry, the monopoly approach began to change in the 1990s. In 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued its Order No. 888 , which mandated that electric utilities open access to their transmission systems to enhance competition and "functionally unbundle" their transmission service from their other operations. The order also promoted

1836-469: The development of military technologies and weaponry. Many professional societies and national organizations, such as the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the United States, have ethical guidelines (see Engineering ethics and Research ethics for the conduct of scientific research and engineering). Scientists and engineers, individually and collectively, have

1890-418: The entire city. Cooperative utilities are owned by the customers they serve. They are usually found in rural areas. Publicly owned utilities are non-profit. Private utilities, also called investor-owned utilities , are owned by investors , and operate for profit, often referred to as a rate of return . A public utilities commission is a governmental agency in a particular jurisdiction that regulates

1944-416: The essential services they provide. In recent decades several high-profile utility company bankruptcies have challenged this perception. Public utilities were historically regarded as natural monopolies because the infrastructure required to produce and deliver a product such as electricity or water is very expensive to build and maintain. Once assets such as power plants or transmission lines are in place,

1998-517: The framework of this system can demonstrate high efficiency in the use of labor resources and management costs. Residents of Kazakhstan receive water, sewerage and heating from companies recognized by the state as natural monopolies. This means that there is no competition in these areas, and tariffs are set by a special state body – the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies, Competition and Consumer Protection (CRNM and CP). In order to ensure

2052-761: The gods as it does in the founding of new and in the preservation of already founded communities." In the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius , he wrote that "That which isn't good for the hive isn't good for the bee." In 1953, the book Social responsibility of the businessman published by the American economist Howard Bowen was one of the first to address the issue of social responsibility as it relates to business activity. One can be socially responsible passively, by avoiding engaging in socially harmful acts, or actively, by performing activities that advance social goals. Social responsibility has an intergenerational aspect, since

2106-445: The infrastructure, e.g. power plants, telephone lines and water treatment facilities. However, over the past several decades, traditional public utilities' monopoly position has eroded. For instance, wholesale electricity generation markets, electric transmission networks, electricity retailing and customer choice, telecommunications , some types of public transit and postal services have become competitive in some countries and

2160-459: The intellectual and physical division of labor, the resulting fragmentation of knowledge, the high degree of specialization, and the complex and hierarchical decision-making process within corporations and government research laboratories, it is exceedingly difficult for individual scientists and engineers to control the applications of their innovations. This fragmentation of work and decision-making results in fragmented moral accountability, often to

2214-410: The moral responsibility not to pollute the well of collective knowledge and instead to strive to sustain its integrity." Are scientists and engineers morally responsible for the negative consequences that result from applications of their knowledge and inventions? If scientists and engineers take pride in the positive achievements of science and technology, shouldn't they also accept responsibility for

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2268-447: The negative consequences related to the use or abuse of scientific knowledge and technological innovations? Scientists and engineers have a collective responsibility to examine the values embedded in the research problems they choose and the ethics of how they share their findings with the public. Committees of scientists and engineers are often involved in planning governmental and corporate research programs, including those devoted to

2322-709: The point where "everybody involved was responsible but none could be held responsible." Another problem is ignorance. The scientists and engineers cannot predict how their newly generated knowledge and technological innovations may be abused or misused. The excuse of ignorance is stronger for scientists involved in very basic and fundamental research where potential applications cannot be even envisioned, than for scientists and engineers involved in applied scientific research and technological innovation since in such work objectives are well-known. For example, most corporations conduct research on specific products or services that promise to yield profit for share-holders. Similarly, most of

2376-490: The research funded by governments is mission-oriented, such as protecting the environment, developing new drugs, or designing more lethal weapons. In cases where the application of scientific knowledge and technological innovation is well-known a priori , a scientist or engineer cannot escape responsibility for research and technological innovation that is morally dubious. As John Forge writes in Moral Responsibility and

2430-502: The risk of public harm with mismanagement is considerably greater than with other goods. The principle of universality of utilities maintains that these services are best owned by, and operating for, the public. The government and the society itself would like to see these services being economically accessible to all or most of the population. Furthermore, other economic reasons based the idea: public services need huge investments in infrastructures , crucial for competitiveness but with

2484-417: The role of an independent system operator to manage power flow on the electric grid. Later, FERC Order No. 889 established an electronic information system called OASIS (open access same-time information system) which would give new users of transmission lines access to the same information available to the owner of the network. The result of these and other regulatory rulings was the eventual restructuring of

2538-411: The smooth operation of public utilities, the state also controls the investment programs of monopolistic companies. This is handled by the Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services. Such a system allows you to regulate prices for utilities and direct investments to infrastructure development. However, this system also has its disadvantages. For example, the lack of competition can lead to

2592-718: The state, private firms, and charities ran the traditional public utilities. For instance, the Sanitary Districts were established in England and Wales in 1875 and in Ireland in 1878. The term can refer to the set of services provided by various organizations that are used in everyday life by the public, such as: electricity generation , electricity retailing , electricity supplies, natural gas supplies, water supplies, sewage works , sewage systems and broadband internet services. They are regulated by Ofgem , Ofwat , Ofcom ,

2646-520: The telephone service having been considered a public utility, the FCC made broadband internet access a public utility in the United States. Public utilities have historically been considered to be a natural monopoly . This school of thought holds that the most cost-efficient way of doing business is through a single firm because these are capital-intensive businesses with unusually large economies of scale and high fixed costs associated with building and operating

2700-518: The traditional monopoly-regulated regime to one in which all bulk power sellers could compete. A further step in industry restructuring, "customer choice", followed in some 19 states, giving retail electric customers the option to be served by non-utility retail power marketers. Public utilities can be privately owned or publicly owned . Publicly owned utilities include cooperative and municipal utilities. Municipal utilities may actually include territories outside of city limits or may not even serve

2754-557: The trend towards liberalization , deregulation and privatization of public utilities is growing. However, the infrastructure used to distribute most utility products and services has remained largely monopolistic. Key players in the public utility sector include: Public utilities must pursue the following objective given the social responsibility their services attribute to them: The management of public utilities continues to be important for local and general governments . By creating, expanding, and improving upon public utilities,

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2808-595: The uses and abuses of science. In times past scientists could often conduct research independently, but today's experimental research requires expensive laboratories and instrumentation, making scientists dependent on those who pay for their studies. Quasi-legal instruments, or soft law , has received some normative status in relation to private and public corporations in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights developed by

2862-443: The utility sector is often part of a long-term buy-and-hold strategy. Utilities require expensive critical infrastructure which needs regular maintenance and replacement. Consequently, the industry is capital intensive , requiring regular access to the capital markets for external financing. A utility's capital structure may have a significant debt component, which exposes the company to interest rate risk . Should rates rise,

2916-522: The well-being of shareholders; if there is no outcry, this limits regulation. Some critics argue that corporate social responsibility (CSR) distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses; others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing, such as " greenwashing "; others argue that it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful corporations. A significant number of studies have shown no negative influence on shareholder results from CSR but rather

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