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.
Boone is a city in Des Moines Township, Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is the county seat and is the principal city of the 'Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Boone County, Iowa. This micropolitan statistical area, along with the 'Ames, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area' comprise the larger 'Ames-Boone, Iowa Combined Statistical Area'. The population of the city was 12,803 at the 2000 census.