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.
Cannelton is a city in Troy Township, Perry County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,209 at the 2000 census. Cannelton is the former county seat of Perry County. The current county seat is Tell City, Indiana. The name was adopted in 1844 is derived from the cannel coal once mined in the area.