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.
Paloma, Illinois is an unincorporated community in Adams County, Illinois, United States. Its main auxiliary route is U.S. Route 24 and is within two miles of Coatsburg, another rural community. During the early 1900s the village was famous for its pickle production and was often nicknamed "Pickleville" because of the vast pickle farms. Paloma is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.