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.
Hacker Valley is an unincorporated community in northern Webster County, West Virginia, United States. Its ZIP Code is 26222. The valley was named for its first settler, John Hacker, who reportedly took possession of a tract of land nearby by "tomahawk mark" around 1772. Hacker Valley is home to Holly River State Park and serves as the southern end of the Mountain Parkway Byway scenic byway. The community is also contains the grave of George Lough (died 1817), which is believed to be the oldest marked grave in northern Webster County.