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.
Durham is an unincorporated community in southern Lewis County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Route 6 about ten miles southwest of La Grange. The community was founded in 1876 and is named after a railroadman of that name. Durham is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.