What is the incentive for utilities and public providers? Just the fact that they can spend whatever they want and pass the bill on to the end user because they have no choice in the matter?
The same as the incentive for a slumlord... you minimize capital expenses and maximize return on equity. You can milk capital assets for a long time.
The partners and shareholders yield higher dividends, and somebody (taxpayers, insurance, new investors, ratepayers) gets stuck with the bill when things go bad.
