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.
Constantine is a village in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,095 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Constantine Township. It is on U.S. Highway 131, leading to Kalamazoo to the north and to the Indiana Toll Road six miles to the south. The non-navigable St. Joseph River passes through it toward Lake Michigan. The telephone provider is Verizon and the electric provider is AEP Indiana Michigan Power. Constantine is the birthplace of Harry Hill Bandholtz, US Brigadier General in World War I and head of the US Military Mission to Hungary.