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.
Rigby is a small city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2000 census. The larger "Rigby area" includes such outlying unincorporated communities as Annis, Garfield, Grant, Labelle, and Clark. Other nearby incorporated areas within in Jefferson County include Menan, Roberts, Lewisville, and Ririe. If the populations of these communities is included, the number of people living in the "Rigby area" is somewhere above 5000. Rigby is part of the Idaho Falls, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is located directly between the two larger Idaho cities of Rexburg and Idaho Falls, providing its residents with a wide variety of shopping, entertainment and cultural choices. These neighboring towns are only about a 10-15 minute drive to the north and south, respectively. The Rigby area has seen recent population growth due to its residential taxes being less than that of Rexburg or Idaho Falls. Many Rigby citizens commute to jobs in Rexburg or Idaho Falls, and a number of residents work for the federal government or federal contractors through the Idaho National Laboratory INL, locally called "The Site".