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.
Mindenmines is a city in Barton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 409 at the 2000 census. It has possessed a post office since 1883 (named Tusconia 1883-1884, Minden Mines 1884-1895, and Mindenmines since 1895).