Utility, noun: "an organization supplying the community with electricity, gas, water, or sewerage". Over the course of a century the term "utility" has come to be synonymous with "always on". Yet as PG&E is now demonstrating that is a misnomer and a misconception. The adjective, "the state of being useful, profitable, or beneficial" (which is closer to its use in economics) suggest that anything which we want or find to be of use has "utility". But to expect it to be "always on" is only a function of habit and a developed country habit at that. There are may parts of the world in which electricity supply is intermittent; and California is now one of those places.
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