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.
Minden is a census-designated place (CDP) in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. The population was 2,836 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Douglas County and is adjacent to the city of Gardnerville. It is named after the town of Minden, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has possessed a post office since 1906. US Highway 395 runs through Minden. It is also the terminus of State Route 88, which becomes California State Route 88 on the west side of the state line. The Douglas campus of the Western Nevada College is located in Minden. The Minden area is considered one of the premier locations for soaring in the United States.