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.
Cold Spring is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,975 at the 2000 census. It is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city was thrust in the national spotlight on September 24, 2003 when then 15-year-old Jason McLaughlin shot and killed two classmates in the Rocori High School shooting.