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.
South Bend is a village in Cass County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 86 at the 2000 census. As you approach the town on Nebraska Highway 66, a sign announces "South Bend Next 4 Exits"--a reference to the four streets that lead in from the highway. The main landmark is a pedestrian bridge across the Platte River which leads to Schramm Park State Recreation Area. It was built in 2004 on the pillars of the abandoned Rock Island Railroad bridge. 35 trains a day—most of them coal trains—still pass through here on the BNSF Railway main.