Evaluating the effectiveness of utility privatization effortsThe views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or United States Government.

Purpose – Government‐owned utility systems at many locations are old, obsolete, and unreliable. Replacement of these systems has become more technically and operationally complex, thereby making them more difficult for personnel to operate and maintain. In response, some governmental agencies are conveying ownership of these systems to the private sector through utility privatization as a way to efficiently operate and upgrade them. For utility privatization to be successful though, independent audits are necessary to ensure desired quantitative and qualitative factors are balanced. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explains how the value‐focused thinking (VFT) methodology was used to develop a multi‐objective decision analysis (MODA) model to determine the effectiveness of utility privatization efforts. Findings – The VFT MODA model was determined to be a suitable tool to evaluate a complex decision problem such as utility system evaluation. The model captured 28 values and 47 measures relating to utility privatization program's objective of improving the overall quality, reliability, and responsiveness of utility systems. Research limitations/implications – The VFT MODA model lacks real‐world data for evaluation, senior leader stakeholder input and a value and measure to evaluate energy efficiency. Practical implications – The paper provides organizations faced with utility privatization decisions with an effective decision‐analysis tool. Originality/value – The paper explores the first documented use of VFT to assist organizations and governments in providing insight into the performance of its privatized utility systems.