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.
Buckhannon is the only incorporated city in and the county seat of Upshur County, West Virginia, United States, and is located along the Buckhannon River. The population was 5,725 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, it has reached a population above 7,500. Buckhannon is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College and the West Virginia Strawberry Festival, held annually on the third week of May. The city is located 115 miles northeast from the capital city of Charleston and 140 miles south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Buckhannon is also home of the Sago Mine Tragedy that happened on January 2, 2006, resulting in the deaths of 12 of 13 trapped miners.