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.
Wardville is a small unincorporated community in northern Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States, along State Highway 131 14 miles northeast of Coalgate, Oklahoma. The post office was established February 6, 1902 under the name Herbert, Oklahoma. The town was named after Herbert Ward, who was the youngest son of the towns first postmaster, Henry Pleasant Ward. The name of the town was changed to Wardville on July 18, 1907. Wardville was named for the before mentioned Henry Pleasant Ward, who served in the territorial House of Representatives and Senate and was an Atoka County judge . The Wardville Post Office closed in 2007.