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.
Sartell is a city in Benton and Stearns counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,915 as of July 1, 2008 census estimates, making it St. Cloud's most populous suburb and largest city in the central Minnesota region after St. Cloud.