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.
Lashmeet is an unincorporated community in western Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along West Virginia Route 10 northwest of the city of Princeton, the county seat of Mercer County. Its elevation is 2,539 feet (774 m). Although Lashmeet is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 24733.