Utilities Industry Classification Codes (SIC & NAICS)
Utilities Industry Codes
Updated: 2025
The Utilities sector includes establishments that generate, transmit, and distribute electricity; provide natural gas distribution; supply water; and operate sewage and other systems essential to public infrastructure. This sector covers electric utilities, power generation facilities, natural gas providers, water systems, wastewater treatment operations, and steam or district heating networks. Utilities classifications support regulatory compliance, infrastructure planning, rate-case analysis, environmental reporting, and reliability assessments. Accurate SIC and NAICS codes ensure consistent rollups for energy markets, municipal services, and environmental oversight.
SIC Coverage: 49 — Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services
NAICS Range: 22
SICCODE.com assigns industries to the Utilities sector when their primary activity involves regulated or essential infrastructure services such as electric power generation and distribution, natural gas systems, water supply, wastewater treatment, or steam and district energy networks. SIC codes are included when utility operations, rather than manufacturing, construction, or pure services, represent the core function.
SIC vs. NAICS Structure for Utilities
| SIC Structure | NAICS Structure |
| Utilities activity is grouped under SIC 49, which covers electric services, gas production and distribution, water supply, and sanitary services, including sewage and refuse systems. | NAICS Sector 22 — Utilities — distinguishes electric power generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, water supply, sewage treatment, and other utility systems in separate subsectors. |
| SIC emphasizes broad categories of energy and sanitary services without explicit separation by generation technology or regulatory structure. | NAICS allows more detailed analysis by separating investor-owned utilities, municipal or cooperative systems, and operators with specialized infrastructure footprints. |
| Waste handling and sanitary systems are grouped with electric and gas services within a single division. | NAICS clarifies boundaries between utilities, construction, and waste management, supporting cleaner regulatory and infrastructure mapping. |
Major SIC Subsectors (Linked to Official 2-Digit Pages)
NAICS Structure Within Utilities (Linked)
In SIC, utilities fall under SIC 49, which aggregates electric services, gas production and distribution, water supply, and sanitary systems in a single division. NAICS expands the sector as NAICS 22, allowing detailed segmentation of electric power generation technologies, transmission and distribution operators, natural gas distribution networks, water utilities, and sewage treatment facilities. These structures are essential for analyzing energy grids, environmental compliance, utility cost structures, infrastructure investment, and reliability metrics across service territories and regulatory jurisdictions.
Insights & Research for Utilities
SIC & NAICS codes support analysis of generation mix, transmission constraints, distribution networks, outage performance, and grid modernization initiatives.
Classification aids forecasting for gas supply, rate cases, infrastructure requirements, pipeline service areas, and regional energy market dynamics.
Water utilities and wastewater systems use classification for environmental reporting, regulatory compliance, capital planning, and asset management across treatment plants and distribution networks.
Regulators and municipalities rely on accurate codes to support rate regulation, environmental programs, resilience planning, infrastructure funding, and long-term integrated resource plans.
How These Classifications Are Used
Utilities SIC and NAICS codes are used by energy providers, municipal authorities, regulators, engineers, environmental agencies, infrastructure investors, and analysts to categorize essential service operations. They support rate modeling, energy market studies, infrastructure investment analysis, permitting, risk assessment, asset management, and environmental compliance. Accurate classification ensures utilities are represented correctly in regulatory filings, performance reports, infrastructure planning models, and environmental and reliability statistics.
Get Help With Utilities Classification
If you need help determining the correct SIC or NAICS code for an electric utility, natural gas provider, water system, wastewater operation, or district energy network, our classification experts can analyze service lines, infrastructure, and regulatory scope to confirm the appropriate category.
Related Classification Clusters
- NAICS 23 — Construction (utility construction, line work, and infrastructure projects)
- NAICS 48–49 — Transportation & Warehousing (fuel logistics, pipeline transportation, and related networks)
Reviewed and verified by the SICCODE.com Expert Review Team.