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.
Adamsville, Rhode Island is a village in Little Compton, Rhode Island. It was first settled in 1675. Gray's Store in Adamsville, built in 1788, claims to be the oldest operating general store in the United States. The Rhode Island Red Monument at the intersection of Adamsville Road, Westport Harbor Road and Main Street is a granite monument to the Rhode Island Red Chicken, the state bird.