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.
Independence is a suburban city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,982 at the 2000 census, but estimated to be about 21,694 in 2008. It is one of two county seats of Kenton County . In 1842 the county of Campbell was split to form a new county, Kenton, named after a pioneer who'd helped explore the territory, Simon Kenton. The city of Independence was incorporated in 1842 to mark its independence from Campbell County.