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.
Rogers is a suburban city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 38,829. The city is located in the fast growing Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Area. Rogers was named after Captain Charles Warrington Rogers, who was vice-president and general manager of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad, also known as the Frisco. The town was established in 1881, the year the Frisco line arrived; it was at this time the area residents honored Captain Rogers by naming it for him. Rogers was the location of the first Wal-Mart store, whose corporate headquarters is located in neighboring Bentonville, Arkansas. Daisy Outdoor Products, known for its air rifles, has both its headquarters and its Air Rifle Museum in Rogers. In June 2007, BusinessWeek magazine ranked Rogers as 18th in its list of the 25 best affordable suburbs in the American South.