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.
Vanderbilt is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 553 at the 2000 census. The town is named for the railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. It is served by the Connellsville Area School District. Vanderbilt is the site of a mine fire, although it has not been as destructive as the one in Centralia, Pennsylvania, and has little impact on the small town.