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.
Gettysburg is a borough in and the county seat of Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,490 at the 2000 census. Although known primarily as an attraction because of its proximity to the Gettysburg Battlefield, site of the Battle of Gettysburg, the borough is also known for its institutions of higher learning, namely the Lutheran Theological Seminary, founded in 1826, Gettysburg College (originally Pennsylvania College), which began operating in 1832, and Harrisburg Area Community College. Many roads radiate from Gettysburg, providing hub-like access to Baltimore (52 miles/84 kilometers), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (38 miles/61kilometers), Carlisle (30 miles/48 kilometers), Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland (25 and 30 miles, or 40 and 48 kilometers, respectively), and Washington, D.C. (90 miles/145 kilometers). Chambersburg is 25 miles (40 km) west on the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental U.S. highway. Today the borough is a 2½ hour drive from Philadelphia and a 3½ hour drive from Pittsburgh via the Pennsylvania Turnpike and U.S. Route 15. Gettysburg Regional Airport, a small general aviation airport, is located 2 miles (4 km) west of Gettysburg. In June of 2009, the Adams County Transit Authority implemented local transportation service to the boro operating under the name Freedom Transit