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.
Clifton is a village in Clark and Greene Counties in the U.S. state of Ohio and is home to the Clifton Mill, one of the largest water powered grist mills still in existence. The population was 179 at the 2000 census. The Greene County portion of Clifton is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Clark County portion is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area.