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.
Osakis is a city in Douglas and Todd counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 1,567 at the 2000 census. Osakis was founded in 1857. The town takes its name from the beautiful lake on which the town is located.. The name Osakis is thought to mean place of the Sauk and commemorates a small group of Sauk Indians who lived near the lake in the early 19th century. The main part of Osakis is in Douglas County; only a small part of the city extends into Todd County. Osakis is situated on the southwest shore of Lake Osakis, on Minnesota State Highway 27. Osakis is about one mile from exit 114 of Interstate 94.