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.
Mizpah is a city in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 78 at the 2000 census. The name is the Hebrew word for "watchtower. " The Minnesota state record for latest measurable snowfall was recorded in Mizpah on June 4, 1935 when the town received an inch and a half of snowfall.