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.
Blackfoot is a city in Bingham County, Idaho, United States. The population was 10,419 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Bingham County. Blackfoot is designated the "Potato Capital of the World", because it has the largest potato industry in the world. It is home to the Idaho Potato Museum (a museum and gift shop that displays and explains the history of Idaho's potato industry), which is home to the world's largest baked potato and potato chip. Blackfoot is also home to the Eastern Idaho State Fair, which operates between Labor Day weekend and the following weekend. Blackfoot is the principal city of the Blackfoot, ID Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Bingham County.