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.
Elberta is a census-designated place (CDP) in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 278 at the 2000 census. It is also known as "The Slant". It was founded as "Mt. Nebo". After the water failed in 1901 most of the early settlers moved away. It was purchased by Mr. Matthew B. Whitney, a native of New York, on November 7, 1907, and Mr. Whitney renamed it "Elberta" after the peach.