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.
Middleton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. It is often considered a western suburb of the state capital, Madison although it was founded before Madison getting its name from Middletown Conn. the "w" being drop due a paper work error per long time historian Edward Kromery who has the middle school named in his honor. As of the 2000 census, its population was 15,770. Its estimated 2006 population was 16,595. Middleton's motto is "The Good Neighbor City" . In July 2007, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Middleton the best place to live in the United States. In July 2009, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Middleton the fourth best place to live in the United States.