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.
Blackey is a city in Letcher County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 153. It is located in the vicinity of one of the earliest English settlements, Indian Bottom. Blackey is thought to have been named after Blackey Brown, one of its citizens.