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.
Richmond is a city largely within Wayne Township, Wayne County, in east central Indiana, which borders Ohio. The city also includes the Richmond Municipal Airport, which is in Boston Township and separated from the rest of the city. It is sometimes called the "cradle of recorded jazz" because some early jazz records were made here at the studio of Gennett Records, a division of the Starr Piano Company. Richmond is the county seat of Wayne County. The city's 2000 population was 39,124. In the 1990s, Richmond's population declined by 1.6 percent. Like many cities that formerly depended on manufacturing, Richmond is having to create a new economy. Its rich architectural heritage and Main Street attest to a strong base. The city has twice received the All-America City Award, most recently in a youth-initiated 2009 effort.