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.
Bumpass is an unincorporated community located primarily in Louisa County, Virginia, United States, but covering a small portion of both Spotsylvania and Hanover Counties as well. It has received moderate fame for its unusual name. Named for the Bumpass family (from the French Bon Pas meaning "good step") who lived in the area when it was named. It is known for its many farms, defunct ice cream spoon factory, alpaca ranches, and lumbering operations. It contains most of Lake Anna and several houses and estates from the 18th to early 20th centuries, including Jerdone Castle, a plantation (now lakefront) dating to 1742 that is a Virginia Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historical Places. In addition, Bumpass is the home of Argonaut BioFuels, one of the largest biomass-to-energy facilities in the country currently under construction. Alternate names associated with the locality include Bumpas, Bumpass Station, Bumpass Turnout, Jackson District, Northern District, and Second Turnout.