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.
Chanhassen is a city in Carver and Hennepin counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 20,321 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 estimated population of 23,520. The origin of the name comes from the Dakota word chanhasen meaning "sugar-maple tree" (chan, tree; haza, a tree with sap). The northern metro area Hassan Township carries the latter syllable of the word to avoid confusion. Chanhassen was ranked as the #2 best place to live in America in 2009 by Money Magazine.