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.
Reinbeck is a city in Grundy County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,751 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Waterloo–Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. Reinbeck resides in northeastern Iowa outside of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area known as the Cedar Valley. Reinbeck is primarily an agricultural community that strives on the services of nearby larger cities like Cedar Falls.