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.
Minerva is a village in Carroll, Columbiana, and Stark counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 3,934 at the 2000 census. The Carroll and Stark County portions of Minerva are part of the Canton–Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Columbiana County portion is part of the East Liverpool–Salem Micropolitan Statistical Area.