Editing Birmingham, Alabama (section)

===Utilities===
The water for Birmingham and the intermediate urbanized area is served by the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB). A public authority that was established in 1951, the BWWB serves all of Jefferson, northern Shelby, western St. Clair counties. The largest reservoir for BWWB is Lake Purdy, which is located on the Jefferson and Shelby County line, but has several other reservoirs including Bayview Lake in western Jefferson County. There are plans to pipeline water from Inland Lake in Blount County and Lake Logan Martin, but those plans are on hold indefinitely.

Jefferson County Environmental Services serves the Birmingham metro area with sanitary sewer service. Sewer rates have increased in recent years<ref name="BBC Scandal">{{cite web |title=The scandal of the Alabama poor cut off from water |author=Brian Wheeler |work=BBC News |date=December 14, 2011 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16037798 |access-date=December 15, 2011}}</ref> after citizens concerned with pollution in area waterways filed a lawsuit that resulted in a federal consent decree to repair an aging sewer system. Because the estimated cost of the consent decree was approximately three times more than the original estimate, many blame the increased rates on corruption of several Jefferson County officials.<ref name="BBC Scandal" /> The [[Jefferson County sewer controversy|sewer construction and bond-swap agreements]] continue to be a controversial topic in the area.<ref name="BBC Scandal" />

Electric power is provided primarily by [[Southern Company]]-subsidiary, Alabama Power. However, some of the surrounding area such as [[Bessemer, Alabama|Bessemer]] and [[Cullman, Alabama|Cullman]] are provided by [[Tennessee Valley Authority|TVA]]. Bessemer also operates its own water and sewer system.<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=http://www.bessemerutilities.com/history/ |publisher=Bessemer Utilities |access-date=July 26, 2022}}</ref> Natural gas is provided by [[Spire Inc|Spire]], although some metro area cities operate their own natural gas services. The local telecommunications are provided by AT&T. Cable television service is provided by [[Charter Communications]].