Public utilities provide electric, gas, water or telephone service to customers in a specified area. Utilities have a duty to provide safe and adequate service on reasonable terms to anyone who lives within the service area on without discriminating between customers. Because most utilities operate in near monopolistic conditions, they can be heavily regulated by local, state, and federal authorities. Generally, the local and state agencies are called Public Service Commissions (PSC) or Public Utility Commissions (PUC). Municipal Utilities and Rural Electric Cooperatives may be unregulated though.
Shaktoolik is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 230. As of 2009, Koyukuk is one of a number of Alaskan communities threatened by erosion and related global warming effects. The community has relocated twice before.