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.
North Augusta is a city in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States, on the north bank of the Savannah River. The population was 17,574 at the 2000 census. The city is included in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) and is also part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.