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.
Beaufort is an unincorporated community in western Franklin County, Missouri, United States. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 and Route 185 about eleven miles west of Union. The community was founded in 1849, and is named after Beaufort, South Carolina. The small Community boasts two Gas stations (one of which is also a grocery store), a feed store, and the locally famous Sentry Hardware Store.