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.
Flatwoods is a city in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 7,605 at the 2000 census. Bobby F. Crager is the city's mayor . Flatwoods is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649. Locally, Flatwoods is considered to be a "bedroom community", as it has no large employer within the city. Many residents work for CSX Transportation, AK Steel, Marathon Oil, King's Daughters Medical Center, or Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital. There are five institutions of higher education located within 30–40 minutes of Flatwoods. The Ohio University Southern Campus, Marshall University, Kentucky Christian University, Ashland Community and Technical College and, Shawnee State University.