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.
Bath is a town in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 268 at the 2008 census. Incorporated in 1705, Bath was North Carolina's first capital and port of entry. Bath is North Carolina's oldest town, celebrating its 300th anniversary in 2005. Bath is located in North Carolina's coastal plains region.