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.
Benson is a town located in Johnston County, North Carolina. The town lies at the intersection of Interstates 95 and 40. Each year Benson celebrates Mule Days the 4th Saturday of September, a festival that attracts over 60,000 people each year. In 2006, the estimated population was 3,374.