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.
Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 42,940 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 49,802 in July, 2009. Grand Island is home to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center (NLETC) which is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state, as well as the home of the Southern Power District serving southern Nebraska. Grand Island has been given the All-American City Award three times (1955, 1967, and 1981-82) by the National Civic League. Grand Island is the principal city of the Grand Island Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Hall, Merrick, and Howard counties.