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.
Given is an unincorporated community in southwestern Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. It lies at the intersection of Rock Castle, Shamblin Run, and Wolfe Creek Roads, south of the city of Ripley, the county seat of Jackson County. Its elevation is 689 feet (210 m). Although Given is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 25245.