Prior to deregulation of the energy industry, local utilities were generally required by law to serve all available customers in their assigned service areas, regardless of the cost or inconvenience of serving those customers. This was known as universal service.

Deregulation sometimes removes the obligation to serve customers within a given market, but utilities are considered necessities, so service to all customers must be provided in some fashion. Many deregulated regions have instituted plans or procedures to insure that customers who may have no access to competitive suppliers or who may be deemed undesirable as customers will still be able to obtain service.

This type of service is called default service, and where it is available, it is usually institutionalized to insure that everyone has access to electrical service. Some jurisdictions require competitive suppliers to provide default service in an assigned region while others may set up a community services or utility branches to provide service to these customers.

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