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.
Reynoldsville is a borough in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, 120 miles (193 km) northeast of Pittsburgh, in a productive soft coal region. In the past, it had silk mills, brick and tile works, a tannery, a macaroni factory, and an asbestos plant to provide employment. In 1900, the population stood at 3,435 people; and in 1910, 3,189. Reynoldsville was greatly enlarged in 1913 when it annexed West Reynoldsville (population 993 in 1910) and three large adjacent areas. The population was 2,710 at the 2000 census.