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.
Berea (also Seven-Day Mill or Seventh Day Settlement) is an unincorporated community in southeastern Ritchie County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along West Virginia Route 74 southeast of the town of Harrisville, the county seat of Ritchie County. Its elevation is 751 feet (229 m). Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 26327.