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.
Drayton Plains is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan. It was first settled in 1823. A dam and gristmill was built in 1837 and the Drayton Plains Hotel was built in 1839. It was platted in 1860, but never incorporated as a municipality and its identity has been largely subsumed within that of Waterford Charter Township. It is located on Dixie Highway around the west end of Loon Lake at 42°41'03" N, 83°22'38" W. Brookfield Academy, originally founded as the Laurel Montessori School in 1964 in Drayton Plains, was the first Montessori school in Michigan. An old fish hatchery is now the Drayton Plains Nature Center. Drayton Plains was informally referred to as a village and maintained its own identity and post office until the early 1990s when the post office was closed and functions transferred to the Waterford Post Office. The current ZIP code for the community is 48330.