Investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are privately-owned companies that generate, transmit, and distribute electricity to consumers. IOUs often operate as natural monopolies within their service areas, facing limited competition. This can lead to conflicts of interest, as IOUs may obstruct the deployment of new transmission capacity to protect their own market share and assets.

The podcast episodes provided discuss how the practices and influence of IOUs, such as FirstEnergy and ComEd, have impeded the energy transition and led to corruption scandals. Episode #227 of The Energy Transition Show explores the historical obstructions by IOUs in deploying sufficient transmission capacity, while Biden's Trillion-Dollar Climate Ambitions from The Energy Gang discusses the corruption scandals involving racketeering and bribery by public officials linked to utility companies.