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.
Chebanse is a village in Chebanse Township, Iroquois County in the U.S. state of Illinois; the north portion of the town lies in Otto Township, Kankakee County. The population was 1,148 at the 2000 census. The Kankakee County portion of Chebanse is included in the Kankakee-Bradley, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.