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.
Hubbell is an unincorporated community in Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The U.S. Census Bureau has defined an area around the community as a Census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 1,105. The area defined as a CDP is partially within Torch Lake Township and partially within Osceola Township. The community is on the west shore of Torch Lake on M-26, about two miles south of the village of Lake Linden at 47°10′24″N 88°25′45″W / 47.17333°N 88.42917°W / 47.17333; -88.42917. The ZIP code is 49934 and the FIPS place code is 39680. It is named after Jay Abel Hubbell, a U.S. Representative (1873-1882) from the area.