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.
Carleton is a village in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,562 at the 2000 census. Carleton, which was named after popular Michigan poet Will Carleton, was plated in 1872 and incorporated into a village in 1911. The village is located within Ash Township and is served by Airport Community Schools.