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.
Pevely is a city in Jefferson County, Missouri, United States. The 2008 estimated population is 5,808. The population was 3,768 at the 2000 census. Charles S. Rankin founded the city in September 1860; the origin of the name was originally Pevely Springs named after an early inhabitant then later shortened to Pevely.