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.
Benson is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, in the United States, 45 miles east-southeast of Tucson. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 4,934. The city was founded in 1880 when the Southern Pacific Railroad came through. It was named after Judge William B. Benson, a friend of the president of the railroad. The city is perhaps best known as the gateway to Kartchner Caverns State Park.