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.
Brigham City redirects here; for uses other than this city in Utah see Brigham City (disambiguation). Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 17,412 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It lies on the western slope of the Wellsville Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range at the western terminus of Box Elder Canyon. Brigham City saw most of its growth during the 1950s and 1960s, but has seen a struggling economy and stagnating growth since then. It is currently the headquarters of ATK Thiokol, the company that created the solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle. Brigham City is known for its peaches and holds an annual celebration called Peach Days on the weekend after Labor Day. Much of Main Street is closed off to cars and the festival is celebrated by a parade, a car show, a carnival, and other activities. It was recently announced by the LDS president Thomas S. Monson that Brigham City would soon receive a temple.