Why is Central Hudson allowed to be a monopoly?

In the early 1900s, the private energy utility industry fought to be considered a natural monopoly. A natural monopoly is an industry where the fixed costs of operation is so high that competition between different companies in the same market would increase rather than decrease the costs for customers. For example, if two or more companies ran multiple copies of gas pipes and electricity wires on the same streets, not only would it be physically cumbersome, but the total of costs of running multiple systems would have to be divided among a fixed number of customers—meaning each customer would have to pay higher, not lower. In New York, only the energy developers, not distributors like Central Hudson, are allowed to compete against each other, because the supply side is not considered a natural monopoly.

However, if the distribution of energy is a natural monopoly, then it should not be allowed to be privately-owned and for-profit.