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.
Gasconade is a city in Gasconade County, Missouri, United States, at the confluence of the Missouri and Gasconade Rivers. It was the first county seat, but the designation was moved in 1825 to Bartonville after flooding. (The county seat was moved twice more, finally to Hermann in 1842. ) The population was 267 at the 2000 census.