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.
Linville Falls is an unincorporated community at the junction of Avery, Burke, and McDowell counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The community is named after Linville Falls, a nearby waterfall in the Linville Gorge Wilderness.