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.
Choteau is a city in and the county seat of Teton County, Montana, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 89 about 20 miles (32 km) east of the Rocky Mountains, near Flathead National Forest, the Rocky Mountain Division of Lewis and Clark National Forest, and Glacier National Park. The population was 1,781 at the 2000 census. The Montana town is named for French fur-trapper and explorer Pierre Chouteau, Jr. , who is also the namesake of Chouteau County, Montana.