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.
Guthrie Center is a city in Guthrie County, Iowa, United States, along the South Raccoon River. The population was 1,668 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Guthrie County. Guthrie Center is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.