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.
Livermore is a city in McLean County in the U.S. state of Kentucky, at the confluence of the Green and Rough Rivers. The population was 1,482 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Owensboro, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named for pioneer James Livermore.