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.
Mathews is an unincorporated community in and the county seat of Mathews County, Virginia, United States. Mathews County is a rural county known for its location on the Chesapeake Bay, its annual Tour De Chesapeake (due to its lack of hills except for the north section of the county near the Mathews-Gloucester border) and its local artists such as P. Buckley Moss. The County of Mathews is the second smallest county in Virginia. Despite lackluster football and basketball teams the local high school is known for success in several sports including Boy's and Girl's Crew Teams, Boys Cross Country, Volleyball, Wrestling, Softball, and Track and Field. The wrestling team won the 1990 and 1991 state championships, boys track won the 1969 and 1986 state championships, and baseball won the state title in 2004.