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.
Monroe Center is a village in Ogle County, Illinois, is located southeast of Rockford in Monroe Township. It is located on the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad and on Illinois Route 72, about 1 mile east of Exit 111 from Interstate 39. The village had an estimated population of 500 in 2007.