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.
Rupert is the county seat and largest city of Minidoka County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Burley, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,645 at the 2000 census. Rupert sprung up after the announcement of the Minidoka Reclamation Project, which would provide irrigation and electricity to the area by the building of the Minidoka Dam. Electricity was plentiful in Rupert after the building of the Minidoka Dam and led to Rupert being one of the first cities in the world to have its streets lighted by electricity. Rupert was founded in 1906.