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.
Spencer is a city in Clay County, Iowa, United States, at the confluence of the Little Sioux and Ocheyedan Rivers. The population was 11,317 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Clay County. Spencer is famous as the home of the Clay County Fair, held annually in September AND DEWEY Readmore Books, the Library Cat . The fair averages over 300,000 visitors per year. Spencer was ranked 10th best place to live in the United States by Relocate-America. com's "America's Top 100 Places to Live for 2007."