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.
Burlington is a city in and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26,839 the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and Gulf Port, Illinois. Burlington is the home of Snake Alley, the crookedest alley in the world, and has been called the Backhoe Capital of the World.