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.
Adena is a village in Harrison and Jefferson Counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 815 at the 2000 census. The Jefferson County portion of Adena is part of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area.