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.
Coatsville is an unincorporated community in northern Schuyler County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Route 202 about six miles northwest of Lancaster at the Iowa state line. The community is part of the Kirksville Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is today a tiny town with a population of less than fifty. Only a Baptist church and a post office remain in the former coal mining town.