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.
Park Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Hubbard County, Minnesota, United States. Thousands of tourists come to Park Rapids every year to enjoy the area lakes and visit Itasca State Park. Itasca State Park, the source of the Mississippi River welcomes almost half a million visitors every year. The population of was 3,276 at the 2000 census.