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.
Dayton is a city in Hennepin and Wright counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 4,699 at the 2000 census. Dayton is mainly in Hennepin County, but a part of the city extends into Wright County as well. It is the northernmost city in Hennepin County. The city of Dayton, platted in 1855, is named for city founder, Lyman Dayton (1810-1865). Through his energy and finances, Lyman Dayton was instrumental in bringing the railroad into Minnesota and development of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, of which he was President until 1865.