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.
Powhatan Point is one of several small villages in Belmont County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,744 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. While "Powhatan" likely memorializes the Native-American tribe of the same name, the "Point" in the town's name refers to the confluence between the Captina Creek and the Ohio River. Powhatan Point is the closest town on the Ohio side of Captina Island in the Ohio River.