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.
Pauline is a small, rural unincorporated community in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States . Until the 1890s, Pauline was known as Stribling. The community took the name "Pauline" when they were to name a post office and the name "Stribling" was already taken; "Pauline" was the first name of the postmaster's daughter at the time.