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.
Michigamme is an unincorporated community in Marquette County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes and without any legal status as a municipality. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 287. The community is located within Michigamme Township at the northwestern end of Lake Michigamme at 46°32′05″N 88°06′36″W / 46.53472°N 88.11°W / 46.53472; -88.11. The CDP encompasses an area along most of the northern shore of the lake. The Michigamme ZIP code, 49861, serves a much larger area to the north and west of the lake, including portions of Michigamme Township and Republic Township in Marquette County and Spurr Township Covington Township in Baraga County.