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.
Hayes is an unincorporated community in Stanley County, South Dakota, United States. It is part of the Pierre, South Dakota Micropolitan Statistical Area. Although not tracked by the Census Bureau, Hayes has been assigned the ZIP code of 57537.