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.
Lakeville is a suburb 23 miles (37 km) south of downtown Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota in Dakota County. On the south metro fringe, Lakeville is one of the fastest growing cities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The U.S. Census Bureau recorded the population of the city of Lakeville at 43,128 people in 2000. The Metropolitan Council estimate for 2006 was 52,323. Lakeville is located on Interstate Highway 35. With an interstate highway link to the Twin Cities and undeveloped land, Lakeville has grown at rapid pace in the region's exurbia. The city became notable in 1910 when Marion Savage built the Dan Patch Railroad Line to service his Antlers Amusement Park. Subsequently, Lakeville became a flourishing milling center from this line and today, the agriculture industry still is in operation. While a significant percentage of Lakeville's workers commute northward to the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and closer-in suburbs like Bloomington, Lakeville has had major industry since the 1960s—including the Airlake Industrial Park, which is served by Airlake Airport, a regional reliever airport.