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.
Maiden is a town in Catawba and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Maiden is also known as "The Biggest Little Football Town in the World". The population was 3,282 at the 2000 census. The Catawba County portion of Maiden is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Lincoln County portion is part of the Lincolnton Micropolitan Statistical Area.