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.
Melrose Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,171 at the 2000 census. Melrose Park has long been home to a large Italian-American population, though it also contains many Mexican-Americans. It was the home of Kiddieland Amusement Park and the current home of Maywood Park Racetrack, Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and Stern Pinball, Inc. , which is the world's last manufacturer of coin-operated pinball machines. There is a Metra railroad station in Melrose Park with daily service to Chicago. Melrose Park is home to two hospitals, Westlake Hospital and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.