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.
Forest City is a city in Hancock and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa, and the county seat of Winnebago County. The population was 4,362 at the 2000 census. It is the headquarters of Winnebago Industries, which manufactures motorhomes. It is also the home of Waldorf College, a small college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Forest City claims to be the smallest city in the United States with its own YMCA. Pilot Knob State Park is located a few miles east of the city. Forest City Community Schools operates a wind turbine that provides 60% of the energy needs of elementary, middle, and high school.