Smaller municipal utilities and/or public utility districts (PUDs), often work together to own generation and transmission. They do so by creating entities called public power agencies, power authorities, or joint action agencies. These agencies are owned by the participating utilities and take on the responsibility of owning and operating generation and transmission facilities. By joining together, the smaller utilities are able to share the costs and risks of owning and maintaining the facilities necessary to serve their customers. In a few limited cases, power authorities are owned by a state government. These authorities typically own generation and transmission.