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.
Philadelphia is an unincorporated community in western Marion County, Missouri, United States. It is located about ten miles west of Palmyra on Route 168. It was named for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The community is part of the Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area. There is a small school district (Marion Co. RII) headquartered in Philadelphia. There is one school building which contains all grades (K-12). The school team is the Mustangs. The community is connected by the Mark Twain Rural Telephone Company in Hurdland. The community is served by a volunteer fire department and a fully-equipped emergency medical response vehicle which is housed in a building constructed in 2004 and operated by EMTs and first responders who reside in and around the unincorporated area. Primary pre-hospital medical response is provided by the Marion County Ambulance District. Law enforcement is provided by the Marion County Sheriff's Office.