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.
The Village of Coal Valley is in both Rock Island County and Henry County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 3,606 at the 2000 census. It is mostly residential, housing families that work in or out of the greater Quad Cities Area. The students of the Rock Island County part of Coal Valley attend the Moline School District number 40, and in the Henry County part, Orion Community Unit School District 223 Oakwood Country Club, located in Coal Valley, was host of the Hardee's Golf Classic from 1986 through 1994. The tournament was later renamed to "John Deere Classic" once sponsorship was taken over by Deere & Company. Now the tournament is hosted at the TPC at Deere Run course in Silvis, Illinois.