Government ownership, also called public ownership, is the ownership and operation of a service, business, or industry by a government. In the United States, most government-owned projects provide vital public services that private companies cannot provide. For example, sometimes the amount of money needed to start a project is more than a private business can afford to spend. This was the case in the development of the Tennessee River Valley (see Tennessee Valley Authority). Sometimes a needed service must be provided at such low rates that a private company could not operate at a profit.