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.
Whitesburg is an unincorporated community in eastern Hamblen County, Tennessee. The small, rural community is located along U.S. Route 11E. Whitesburg is bordered by Russellville on the west and Bulls Gap on the east. A U.S. post office, Whitesburg Elementary School and East Ridge Middle School, parts of the Hamblen County school system, are located in Whitesburg. It is a close farming community with a back-home feel. It is the home of few wealthy people, which is quite surprising, counting the number of beautiful land plots.