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.
Carbondale is a city in Osage County, Kansas, United States. It is part of the Topeka, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,478 at the 2000 census. Founded in 1872, the community is served by Santa Fe Trail school district USD 434, which also serves Scranton and Overbrook. The Carbondale attendance center houses grades K-8 and in 2007 had enrollment of 326 students. From 1906 to 1908 the Daughters of the American Revolution of Kansas placed sixty-six markers along the path of the Santa Fe Trail as it ran through Kansas. Number seventeen is located in Carbondale. The Carbondale City Library is located inside the City building in Carbondale, Kansas. The library opened in 1971 and is a member of the Northeast Kansas Library System, NEKLS. The library has a wide selection of children's and adult books. They have a great collection of large print books. The library also boasts a selection of audio books on tape and compact disc. The library has patron computers with a wide variety of programs and free use of the internet. The library also has a Friends of the Library organization which meets monthly.