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.
West Liberty is a city in Morgan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,277 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County. It is on the banks of the Licking River at the junction of Kentucky Route 7 and US 460. By 1816 an early settlement at the town site was called Wells Mills. When Morgan County was founded in 1823, the settlement was incorporated to become the county seat. The town is actually 100 miles east of Liberty, Kentucky - the name "West Liberty" was chosen in the belief that Pikeville, Kentucky would be called "Liberty" when it incorporated. Three Civil War skirmishes were fought near West Liberty, and much of the town was burned during the war, including the courthouse. It was replaced after the war, and a fourth courthouse was built in 1907.