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.
Payneville is an unincorporated rural community in Meade County, Kentucky, United States. It is a small community that lies a few miles northwest of Brandenburg on KY 144 at it's intersections with KY 376, near KY 144's intersection with KY 1239. Located near here are the Payneville Petroglyphs, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.