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.
Hardeeville is a city in Jasper County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,793 at the 2000 census but has since experienced rapid growth due to new development. Census estimates as of 2008 have the city's population at 2,763. Hardeeville is included within the Hilton Head Island–Beaufort Micropolitan Statistical Area.