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.
Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, United States, 61 miles (98 km) southwest of Kansas City. The population was 4,645 at the 2000 census. It derives its name from two streams near by, the Osage and Potawatomie. In 1900, 4,101 people lived in Osawatomie; in 1910, 4,046. Osawatomie was chartered in 1883 and in 1890 became a second-class city. The commission form of government was adopted in 1914.