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.
Troy is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States. The population was 21,999 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Miami County as well as the largest city in the county and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Troy was one of the cities impacted by severe flooding in the Great Dayton Flood of 1913.