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.
Mandaree is a census-designated place (CDP) in McKenzie County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 558 at the 2000 census. Mandaree is located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. It is the home to former tribal chairman Tex G. Hall as well as being the primary physical center of the Mandan-Hidatsa community. It is noted nationally for its annual Pow-Wow as well as being the home of the Mandaree Singers, a world renowned tribal musical group.