Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 4905
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 4905.02 (2026)

Public utility defined

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORCcodes.ohio.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Effective:
September 29, 2017
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 49 - 132nd General Assembly
PDF:
Download Authenticated PDF
 

(A) As used in this chapter, "public utility" includes every corporation, company, copartnership, person, or association, the lessees, trustees, or receivers of the foregoing, defined in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code, including any public utility that operates its utility not for profit, except the following:

(1) An electric light company that operates its utility not for profit;

(2) A public utility, other than a telephone company, that is owned and operated exclusively by and solely for the utility's customers, including any consumer or group of consumers purchasing, delivering, storing, or transporting, or seeking to purchase, deliver, store, or transport, natural gas exclusively by and solely for the consumer's or consumers' own intended use as the end user or end users and not for profit;

(3) A public utility that is owned or operated by any municipal corporation;

(4) A railroad as defined in sections 4907.02 and 4907.03 of the Revised Code;

(5) Any provider, including a telephone company, with respect to its provision of any of the following:

(a) Advanced services as defined in 47 C.F.R. 51.5;

(b) Broadband service, however defined or classified by the federal communications commission;

(c) Information service as defined in the "Telecommunications Act of 1996," 110 Stat. 59, 47 U.S.C. 153(20);

(d) Subject to division (A) of section 4927.03 of the Revised Code, internet protocol-enabled services as defined in section 4927.01 of the Revised Code;

(e) Subject to division (A) of section 4927.03 of the Revised Code, any telecommunications service as defined in section 4927.01 of the Revised Code to which both of the following apply:

(i) The service was not commercially available on September 13, 2010, the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 162 of the 128th general assembly.

(ii) The service employs technology that became available for commercial use only after September 13, 2010, the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 162 of the 128th general assembly.

(B)(1) "Public utility" includes a for-hire motor carrier even if the carrier is operated in connection with an entity described in division (A)(1), (2), (4), or (5) of this section.

(2) Division (A) of this section shall not be construed to relieve a private motor carrier, operated in connection with an entity described in division (A)(1), (2), (4), or (5) of this section, from compliance with either of the following:

(a) Chapter 4923. of the Revised Code;

(b) Rules governing unified carrier registration adopted under section 4921.11 of the Revised Code.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 44 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1955–2026 · leading case: State ex rel. Toledo Edison Co. v. City of Clyde, 668 N.E.2d 498 (Ohio 1996).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State ex rel. Toledo Edison Co. v. City of Clyde, 668 N.E.2d 498 (Ohio 1996). · cites it 2× “20 reads: “ ‘No * * * public utility as defined in Section 4905.02 of the Revised Code furnishing service or facilities in this state, shall abandon or be required to abandon or withdraw any main * * * electric light line * * * or any portion thereof * * *.”
Coventry Twp. v. Ecker, 654 N.E.2d 1327 (Ohio Ct. App. 1995). “See R.C. 4905.02 and 4905.03. However, this court has repeatedly held that even though an entity is considered a public utility for purposes of PUCO regulation under R.”
Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. v. Levin, 882 N.E.2d 400 (Ohio 2008). “See R.C. 4905.02, 4905.03(A)(6), 4905.06, and 4905.”
Radio Relay Corp. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 341 N.E.2d 826 (Ohio 1976). · cites it 4× ““(2) Respondent, Radio Relay Corporation, is a public utility within the meaning of Section 4905.02, Revised Code.” The commission ordered Radio Relay to make application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity which will authorize the performance of the service…”
DSS Servs., L.L.C. v. Eitel's Towing, L.L.C., 2019 Ohio 3158 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019). “See R.C. 4905.02(A) (stating that the definition of "public utility" includes those entities defined in R.”
Haning v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 712 N.E.2d 707 (Ohio 1999). · cites it 8× “If so, they are “public utilities]” under R.C. 4905.02, which are subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the commission under R.”
In re Complaint of Reynoldsburg, 2012 Ohio 5270 (Ohio 2012). “Intervening appellee, Columbus Southern Power Company (“CSP”), is a public utility under R.C. 4905.02 and provides electric power to Reynoldsburg and its residents.”
GTE North, Inc. v. Zaino, 96 Ohio St. 3d 9 (Ohio 2002). “” {¶ 47} Further, R.C. 4905.02’s expansive definition of “public utilities” includes local exchange telephone companies and interexchange telecommunications companies.”
GTE North, Inc. v. Zaino, 2002 Ohio 2984 (Ohio 2002). “” {¶47} Further, R.C. 4905.02’s expansive definition of “public utilities” includes local exchange telephone companies and interexchange telecommunications companies.”
Vernon v. Warner Amex Cable Commc'ns, Inc., 495 N.E.2d 374 (Ohio 1986). · cites it 2× “Having already determined that R.C. 4905.02, 4905.03 and 5727.01 do not provide the exclusive definitions of what constitutes a public utility, it follows that the city ordinances in issue are not in conflict with these general laws of the state.”
Marano v. Gibbs, 544 N.E.2d 635 (Ohio 1989). “The definitions of a “public utility” set forth in R.C. 4905.02, 4905.03 and 5727.01 are not exclusive since those definitions are relevant solely to the statutory chapters in which they are located.”
DiFranco v. FirstEnergy Corp., 2012 Ohio 5445 (Ohio 2012). “Summary {¶ 1} The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (“CEI”) and Ohio Edison Company, appellants, are public utilities under R.C. 4905.02 that supply electricity throughout northeast Ohio, including Geauga County.”
Show all 44 citing cases →
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4905.02(A) — 2 cases
DSS Servs., L.L.C. v. Eitel's Towing, L.L.C., 2019 Ohio 3158 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019). “See R.C. 4905.02(A) (stating that the definition of "public utility" includes those entities defined in R.”
In re Complaint of Ohio Power Co v. Nationwide Energy Partners, L.L.C., 2026 Ohio 1406 (Ohio 2026).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4905.02(A)(1) — 1 case
In re Complaint of Ohio Power Co v. Nationwide Energy Partners, L.L.C., 2026 Ohio 1406 (Ohio 2026).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4905.02(B)(1) — 1 case
Stepp v. Proficient Transp., Inc., 2017 Ohio 8007 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.