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.
Penn (also Lauren) is an unincorporated community in western Ramsey County, North Dakota, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 2 northwest of the city of Devils Lake, the county seat of Ramsey County. Its elevation is 1,467 feet (447 m). The community was first named Lauren for the townsite owner, Lauren, and was later renamed Penn for English stockholders. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 58362.