It's treated like a public service, but unlike some public services, there's little to no motivation to innovate or provide competitive prices in areas like mine.

Take my electric, as an example of a public utility handled effectively. They use a trust fund to buy up large amounts of energy in bulk, and pass on the savings to the average consumer, like me. My electric bills haven't been over $100 ever since I moved in here, and I use the electric a LOT. My average bill for a 2 bedroom decently sized apartment is between $35-$45 for most of the year.

Take internet, I have one option because of the contract with the apartment owner. I pay $50 a month for 100 down 10 up, but it was $80 a month for 100 down 10 up, after a promotion, and because someone got vengeful at Spectrum and closed my old account, I now get the $50 price point for a year.

I should be paying $40-50 TOPS no matter what, for 100 down 10 up, imho.

The telcos have been working hard to keep it that way for decades now.

All the privilege, none of the responsibilities = profit$

Deep pockets protecting their potato patch:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/3d98mw/tennessee-could-give-taxpayers-americas-fastest-internet-for-free-but-it-will-give-comcast-and-atandt-dollar45-million-instead.

Wow, what state do you live in?

Where did the money for the trust fund come from? What percentage of your gross income is taken as taxes where you live?

He lives in Ohio apparently.

Depends. Some do public bonds.

Like telephone service here in the US, there's also a few additional charged added to your bill. While here in the US, you're paying a buck or so for 911 service on top of your bill as well as another buck or two for those poles out there, with electric you're also paying a couple of additional charges.

A quick scan of a couple of the coops websites says they're called generation, transmission and distribution charges.
Preaching to the choir. Power and other monthly bills are a frequent topic of our clients. Explaining those addons is a top 10 topic. :)

I know : /
I live in Ohio. My electric provider is First Energy, which gets a lot of flack because some of its subsidiaries are grossly mismanaged, but I lucked out.
I may have misspoke and I'm not 100% sure it's a "trust fund" so much as profits used from selling energy, to sell more energy cheaper.
Hehe, I can imagine, based on what I've seen you post about your job. My job is pretty simple in comparison, I work retail and have to make people happy, but it's easier to do so because there's only so much I can control.

I live in CT and we pay about 100-175 / mo, depending on the season.

Keep in mind I'm in a 2 bedroom apartment, not a house.