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.
Cylinder is a city in Palo Alto County, Iowa, United States. The population was 110 at the 2000 census. There is no clear evidence of the derivation of the name of the town. However, one story suggests that the name comes from a vehicle that passed over the creek and dropped a cylinder. There are other stories, but no clear definitive explanation.