seize the means of production

Oh sorry we're going to have to triple your rates. What? No not for anyone else just you. Nothing to do with your feedback though, we value that!
- depending on jurisdiction they can't just arbitrarily raise rates
  
  Which is to say
  depending on jurisdiction they can just arbitrarily raise rates
  
  It's unfortunate that you have to add "depending on jurisdiction"
  
  They're not allowed to but they definitely can. They'll probably get away with it unpunished too, the American "justice" system being what it is..
  
  yes jokes
  
  Oh they can't, but they can begin charging double or triple for the "gas delivery" portion of the bill, which is seperate from "gas supply."
  You know. Because maintenance. Of pipes laid in the ground 40 years ago.
  
  Fine. We’ll raise rates for everyone then. Thank you for your feedback!
- We believe that feedback is a conversation

Would be nice if we could unfuck the US, also if we could take a bit of money from the military to get heat pumps and induction stoves, and just skip the gas
- I agree on the gas for health reasons.
  I really want an outdoor wok burner, because my induction stove just doesn't get hot enough. I'm used to working with a professional stove that will go up to 700° F. The induction stove won't get my wok above 500° F.
  
  It’s expensive and not available yet, but this might do it: https://www.impulselabs.com/
  It has a built in battery so it can have a higher peak power output without upgrading your electricity supply.
  
  They make a standalone induction burner specifically for a wok (mine came with a wok, but the one I already had works). It's nice because you don't have to use a flat bottom one, but it still maxes out at like 550°.

It is what it was, before the whole privitization thing
- Oh shit you're right. There's no such thing as a societal need, everything ought to be turned into for-profit endeavors that enrich private equity! Don't just defund the police, let them compete in the free market! Let's see who has the best ideas! Let's see if we can create a quadrillionaire! Because isn't the invisible hand of the market such an inherently appealing idea that we should ignore its failures? Isn't it fun to think of an economic theory as a great filter?
  
  A monopoly run by the government can operate at a loss no problem. Why? Because their job isn't to make a profit first but to serve the people. Can any private business operate at a loss? And IMHO, utilities are the prime example of what should be owned by the government.
  
  Would you say rampant inefficiencies and cronyism are also present in the private side of things as well though?
  I can certainly imagine that the rich owner of a company is more likely to take a service contract with his rich buddy than with the newbie on the block, and nobody will do anything about it because private.
  Then in terms of inefficiencies, the only thing a private company seems to be able to do efficiently is take money off you, not deliver their service or even customer service.
  At least state services have the opportunity to hold those in charge responsible, if the systems put in place work for the people. In many countries however, this is not the case.
  Therefore it seems like turning companies private is just another bad option. The actual, and perhaps impossible, fix is to resolve the issues in our governing bodies such that our leaders are held accountable.
  
  If the state is run by the workers, and in the interests of the workers without the profit motive, it is soley directed towards providing a service. A capitalist monopoly is directed towards profit alone, and can price control.
  
  Planned economies are based.

The correct answer to #2 is
'Make it easier to tap the lines safely and steal gas without putting anyone at risk, then die in the revolution.'
- Look, I get it, but maybe don't give a warning?
  
  Wow, maybe some of us think honesty is important, and they were kind enough to ask.

But that's communism 🤣

Ohio separates distribution from supply. You can't select the distributor who connects your home to the gas mains, but you can choose from dozens of suppliers who put gas into those mains.
We do the same with electricity.
- This is the same for both gas and electricity (both import and export for those who can) in the UK.
  It generally works quite well, and could be pretty competitive if you knew to shop around. Since Vlad's 3 days began and natural gas prices spiked the entire market (the companies that survived) has pretty much been at the government price cap. There are some deals starting to re-appear but the main reason to switch right now is customer service. Amazing how much brand loyalty let's the big firms treat people like shit and get away with it.
  The best deals tend to be time of use for people with smart meters.
- Same in the EU. Or at least I think so, it's the case over here and it's EU-wide for electricity providers. Water, sewage and garbage disposal are municipal responsibility though there's no network/provider separation there.
  What's actually missing is a municipal-level telecom monopoly -- again, with separate providers. The last-mile network is just as much a natural monopoly for telecom as it is for other wires or pipes.
  
  it's the case over here and it's EU-wide for electricity providers
  I find it interesting that this is a good thing in the US and most of Europe, but in France this majorly fucked our electricity market by forcing the (mostly) state funded electricity producer into selling their electricity to some companies that provide no value aside from being an intermediate between the producer and the consumer (they are not required to produce their own electricity to buy some from EDF at a discount, and they are even allowed to sell it to consumers for less money than the lowest price EDF is allowed to charge when they are doing the same thing, because of some dumb regulations I can't remember).
  All in the name of the free market because "monopoly bad", even though electricity production and especially distribution is, as you said, a natural monopoly.
- In Australia, you can't choose the suppliers. All the gas comes from the same place.
  You can, however, choose the billing company. And it's the same story for electricity.
  https://youtu.be/ELaBzj7cn14

municipal utilities are not much better either unfortunately

Having government owned gas I can tell you it's also a monopoly but one enforced even further by law
- And when government fucked up those management, you as a citizen should held your government liable. People shouldn't be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of their people. Also, the government's main priority is NOT to make a profit but rather serve the people. So there is a (theoretical) obligation for the government to make sure every citizen has access to their service even if at a loss.
- A government monopoly run by the workers, not for profit but to provide a service, is far better than a private monopoly.
  
  See: The USPS
  
  Easy to say living in a first world country

- Yes. Services like gas and water are natural monopolies - it doesn't make sense to roll out two or three separate lots of distribution pipes, so you always just have one service available to you. The best option is to have them as government owned services.
  
  And yet, I can choose from dozens of different energy companies for electricity and gas.
- Um... I'm perfectly OK with a "monopoly" for my fire fighting services. Why would I feel differently for my utilities services?
- Operated solely in the public interest by publicly accountable individuals
- It is replacing a privately owned, for-profit business with a public utility owned by.. the public.
- Those things are natural monopolies, so the choice isn't monopoly vs free-market it's profit-driven-monopoly vs public-good-driven-monopoly.
  Unlike what's said by the mindless pseudo-Economics bollocks a lot of prople have been indoctrinated with, the upsides for consumers of a Free Market only exist in the subset of markets were there are natural conditions for high levels of competition - which is most definitelly not gas provision to households - and even in those there are still systemic problems such as negative externalities that require some level of regulation.
  
  Distribution is a natural monopoly. Supply is not. Every supplier is putting the same, standardized product in the pipes. If they put a cubic foot in, and I take a cubic foot out, I can call them my supplier, even if they are putting it into the pipeline a thousand miles away from me and there is zero chance I will ever be burning the actual gas they supplied.