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.
Stem is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 229 at the 2000 census. In 2006, Stem became home to a high school for the first time since Stem High, when Granville Central High School opened it's doors to freshman and sophomores. The school added a grade each year and now has grades 9-12.