During the past couple of decades, we have witnessed the increasing emergence of public-private partnerships (PPP). According to research in this area, the primary reason beyond the popularity of PPPs has been their ability to combine specific qualities of public and private sectors to the benefit of all. Even though it is not entirely clear that the expected benefits are achieved via PPPs, little of attention has been given to the alternative ways of achieving similar ends. In this paper we build on literatures on PPPs and on co-operatives in order to open discussion on the potential of consumer co-operatives as an alternative to PPPs in service provision. A few words on future research and policy issues are also offered.