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.
Vinton is a town in Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. The population was 7,782 at the 2000 census. It hosted teams by three names in the ECHL in a custom built facility known as the LancerLot; after the roof collapsed during the Blizzard of 1993, the franchise moved to the Roanoke Civic Center. Vinton is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Roanoke Region of Virginia. Vinton's official newspaper is the Vinton Voice (www. vintonvoice. com)