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.
Rosman is a town in Transylvania County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 490 at the 2000 census. The northern terminus of U.S. Route 178 is less than one mile northwest of Rosman on U.S. Route 64. The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute is located about 6 miles north of Rosman, near Balsam Grove, North Carolina.