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.
Potosi is a city in Washington County, Missouri, United States. The estimated population in July 2008 was 2,698. It was 2,662 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. The city was founded in 1799 by Moses Austin and was named after the Bolivian silver-mining city of PotosÃ.