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.
Bealeton is a small unincorporated community in Fauquier County, Virginia, at the intersection of State Route 28 and U.S. Route 17. Public schools in Bealeton include Grace Miller Elementary, Cedar Lee Middle, and Liberty High School. Bealeton is home to its own Post Office with ZIP Code, 22712, and has a population of 6,884 (US Census Report, 2000). On May 15, 2006, ground was broken on a 5,960-square-foot (554 m), $2.3 million dollar post office to replace the old one. It was completed in 2007.