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.
Seco is an unincorporated community in Letcher County, Kentucky, United States. Located in the eastern part of the state, it lies about 6 miles (9 km) E of Whitesburg. The area was inhabited in the late 19th century, but did not receive a post office until 1915: the name derives from the South Eastern Coal Company, which owned the land. The mines are now defunct, although a small mine may still be visited, to some extent, about 500 from the center of town. The main business is the small Highland Winery, established in the mid‑1990s. Tom Gish, longtime publisher of The Mountain Eagle weekly newspaper in nearby Whitesburg, was born in Seco.