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.
Calumet is a city in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 383 at the 2000 census. U.S. Highway 169 serves as a main arterial route in the community. Hill-Annex Mine State Park is just outside the town. Former NHL player Mike Antonovich is from Calumet.