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.
Hanover is a town in Hanover Township, Jefferson County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,834 at the 2000 census. The United States Census Bureau estimates that, as of 2008, Hanover's population is 3,873. Hanover is the home of Hanover College, a small Presbyterian liberal arts college. Hanover is also the home of Southwestern High School. The "Point," located on the campus of Hanover College, is the only place along the Ohio River that three bends can be viewed in the river.