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.
Cleveland is a town in the Cleveland Township of Rowan County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 808 at the 2000 census. It is named after Cleveland, England, but it is rumored that the town is actually named after Grover Cleveland after he visited the town during his presidential campaign.