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.
Nassawadox is a town in Northampton County, Virginia, United States. The town, with an area of .4 square miles, is located on U.S. Route 13 on Virginia's Eastern Shore, approximately five miles south of Exmore and twenty-five miles north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The name derives from Native American for "land between two waters. " Nassawadox is bounded on the east by the sea the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by the Chesapeake Bay. The county is divided as is the town into bayside and seaside areas which refers to the land on either side of the highway, Route 13(Lankford Highway) which runs through Accomack and Northampton Counties. Highlighting its name and its location, Nassawadox has since 1993 hosted the annual October Between the Waters Bike Tour, which features bike tours of various lengths between the Eastern Shore's two coasts.