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.
Boone is a town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Boone is the county seat of Watauga County and the home of Appalachian State University. The town is named for famous pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone, and every summer since 1952 has hosted an outdoor amphitheatre portrayal of the life and times of its namesake. A statue of Boone (photograph below) is located on the Appalachian State campus near the "duck pond". The statue was sculpted by Appalachian State University art department member the late Sherry Edwards. Garey Durden, a retired Professor Emeritus of Economics at Appalachian State was the body model for the Boone sculpture.