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.
Mount Alto is an unincorporated community in far western Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along West Virginia Route 331 northwest of the city of Ripley, the county seat of Jackson County. Its elevation is 709 feet (216 m). Although Mt. Alto is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 25264.