Cooperatives are common in rural America. One of my clients is an electrical cooperative that got started in 1939 as part of the Rural Electrification program. Grain elevators and similar agricultural infrastructure are very often cooperatives. Likewise in parts of the Midwest, telephone cooperatives are common - high bandwidth and low rates.

The flip side is that cooperatives are run like businesses. The electrical cooperative will cut a shareholder's power as quick or quicker than a for profit utility when the shareholder fails to pay their bill - I've been to my client's office on "Cut Off Tuesday."