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.
Chipley is a city in Washington County, Florida, United States. Its population was 3,592 at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census. According to the United States Census Bureau estimates of 2005, the city had a population of about 3,682. Chipley is the county seat of Washington County, Florida. Originally called "Orange", the city was renamed Chipley in 1882, for the railroad businessman and Florida State Senator William Dudley Chipley.