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.
Beulah is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Benzie County. The population was 363 at the 2000 census. It is located in Benzonia Township at the southeast end of Crystal Lake, about one mile north of Benzonia on U.S. Route 31. The Beulah post office was established in 1892. Beulah is the home of The Cherry Hut, a popular northwest Michigan diner famous for its products made from locally grown cherries. Founded in 1922, the Cherry Hut has been located in Beulah since 1935.