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.
Mars Hill is a town in Madison County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,764 at the 2000 census. It is the home of Mars Hill College, and is named after the college. The town is located approximately one mile west of Interstate 26, and 15 miles (24 km) due north of Asheville, western North Carolina's largest city. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.