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.
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County. At the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 34,980, and was the largest city in Northwest Georgia. Though no Interstate highway passes through Rome, it is the largest city near the center of the triangular area defined by the Interstate highways between Atlanta, Birmingham and Chattanooga, which contributes to its importance as a regional center in several areas, such as medical care and education. Rome's name is a commemoration of the Italian city of Rome. Rome, Georgia, was built on seven hills with a river running between them, a feature that was an inspiration for the name. This connection is emphasized by a replica of the statue of Romulus and Remus nursing from a mother wolf, a symbol of the original Rome, which was a 1929 gift from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.