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.
Iron Station, North Carolina is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County just outside of Lincolnton. A primarily industrial town, Iron Station's population as of the 2000 census was 6,210 in 2,389 homes with a population density of 154.84/km². Iron Station also serves as a feeder community for the larger cities of Charlotte, Hickory, and Lincolnton. Iron Station is a town that was an iron mining town with train stations.