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.
Westminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located 9 miles (14 km) north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 107,056 on July 1, 2008. Westminster is the eighth most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 237th most populous city in the United States. Westminster is a part of the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area. In July, 2006, it was ranked as the 24th best place to live in the USA by Money magazine.