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.
Cornell is a city in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,466 at the 2000 census. It is located on the Chippewa River, upstream from Lake Wissota and Chippewa Falls. Brunet Island State Park is adjacent to the city. The northern trailhead for the Old Abe State Trail, a paved rail-trail, is located downtown. Cornell has the world's only surviving pulpwood stacker. The stacker helped to launch the huge timber industry in the Northwoods of Wisconsin in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was used to move large quantities of pulpwood logs, making the process of stacking wood faster, safer, and easier. The stacker has been unused since 1972, but is considered a historical treasure. An annual town fair, known as the Stacker Festival, continues today.