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.
Calabash is a town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 711 at the 2000 census. It prides itself as the Seafood Capital of the World because of the town's large amount of "Calabash-Style" seafood restaurants. Calabash is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.