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.
Canton is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, South Dakota, United States. The city was named by Norwegian settler and former legislator James M. Wahl. The population was 3,110 at the 2000 census. The estimated population as of July 1, 2007, was 4,127.