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.
Williamstown is an unincorporated community in northern Lewis County, Missouri, United States. It is located at the intersection of Missouri Supplemental Routes A and E about twenty miles northwest of Canton. The community is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.