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.
Minnesota Lake is a city in Blue Earth and Faribault counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 681 at the 2000 census. The bulk of the city is in Faribault County; only a small part extends into Blue Earth County. Minnesota Lake was first called Marples in 1858 after an early settler of the area. It was later changed to Minnesota Lake in 1866. The small Blue Earth County portion of Minnesota Lake is part of the Mankato–Metropolitan Statistical Area.