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.
Esko is an unincorporated community in Thomson Township, Carlton County, Minnesota, United States. The community is located between Cloquet and Duluth at the junction of Interstate 35 and County Road 1 (Thomson Road). County 61 serves as a main route in the community. Settled in the woods of Carlton County, most of the residents are descendants of Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish immigrants who settled the area during the early 20th Century. The nearby community of Thomson also is known to have a large Scandinavian presence. The town holds a school for K-12 commonly called Esko high school, yet its true name is Lincoln high school.