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.
Powell is a small unincorporated community in Knox County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in the Emory Road corridor, just north of Knoxville, southeast of Clinton, and east of Oak Ridge. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.