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.
Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, USA, on the Mesabi Iron Range. The area was originally named "qeechaquepagem" by the Ojibwe tribe, which roughly means "lake of the North birds". The population was 9,157 at the 2000 census. According to a water tower in the middle of town, the city's nickname is the "Queen City", or "Queen City of the North". U.S. Highway 53, U.S. Highway 169, and State Highway 135 are three of the main arterial routes in the city. Virginia is part of the Quad Cities of Eveleth, Gilbert, and Mountain Iron. The nearby town of Eveleth is the location of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame (not to be confused with the Hockey Hall of Fame, in Toronto).