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.
Augusta is an unincorporated community in central Hampshire County, West Virginia. It is located along the Northwestern Turnpike at the northern terminus of Augusta-Ford Hill Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 7) between Shanks and Pleasant Dale, east of Romney. According to the 2000 census, the Augusta community has a population of 4,728. Because of its location at the center of Hampshire County, Augusta is home to the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail, the James M. "Chick" Buckbee Juvenile Center, and the Hampshire County Health Department.