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.
Hibbing is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, USA. The population was 17,071 at the 2000 census. The city was built on the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range. In earlier times, this area was called "meebeega", which roughly is translated to Chippewa as "hard earth or ground". At the edge of town is the largest open-pit iron mine in the world. U.S. Highway 169, State Highway 37, and State Highway 73 are three of the main arterial routes in the city.