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.
Ashland is a town located just north of Richmond in Hanover County, Virginia. , United States. The population was 6,619 at the 2000 census. Ashland is home to Randolph-Macon College (1830). "The Center of the Universe" is a popular thematic phrase displayed on signs in the town.