Energy cooperatives are another thing I've seen work well here in the US.
A house I lived in got our electricity from a Touchstone Energy cooperative[1] and our rate was dirt cheap and they even mailed us a dividend check every year. I've even received a few checks from them after moving out of the area and no longer being a customer of theirs. They had great customer service too. They were significantly better in every way than the regional monopolies and municipal power companies I've dealt with.
Sounds like my credit union. I call and someone picks up the phone pretty quickly and competently.
I got in as a minor, so I paid $5 for my startup share. (Adults are $25). They’ve been giving me a $5 dividend share every year for a few decades.
And charge me $0/month for a pretty full-service bank experience (not common at banks in Canada).
They’re on a North American network of ATMs (Exchange & Accel) so I have pretty good coverage out of town, can even deposit cash/cheques into CDN partner ATMs. In a lot of smaller towns, you can’t bank on every big bank having a branch, but a good chance of a partner credit union.
A house I lived in got our electricity from a Touchstone Energy cooperative[1] and our rate was dirt cheap and they even mailed us a dividend check every year. I've even received a few checks from them after moving out of the area and no longer being a customer of theirs. They had great customer service too. They were significantly better in every way than the regional monopolies and municipal power companies I've dealt with.
[1] https://www.touchstoneenergy.com