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.
Alden is an unincorporated community located in Helena Township in Antrim County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated at the southeast end of Torch Lake, about 20 miles northeast of Traverse City. Alden is at 44°52′52″N 85°16′32″W / 44.88111°N 85.27556°W / 44.88111; -85.27556 and the FIPS place code is 01060. The elevation is 604 feet above sea level. The Alden ZIP code 49612 serves portions of Helena Township as well as Custer Township to the east and Clearwater Township to the south and Rapid River Township to the south in Kalkaska County. The community first began to develop after a store was built in Helena Township in 1868. The settlement that formed around it was initially called Noble. Because it was located at the mouth of Spencer Creek, the community became known as Spencer Creek and received a Post Office with that name on June 15, 1869. After the Pere Marquette Railway came to the town in 1891, the post office was renamed Alden on July 18, 1892, for William Alden Smith, who was an official with the railroad company. Smith later became U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Michigan.