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.
Caulfield is an unincorporated community in western Howell County, Missouri, United States. It is located on U.S. Highway 160 about fifteen miles west of West Plains. The community was founded in 1930 and is named after Missouri governor Henry Stewart Caulfield, who took office in 1929. On March 1, 2007, a tornado hit Caulfield, killing 7-year-old Caulfield resident Elizabeth Croney.