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.
Pennsboro is a town in Ritchie County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,199. The city is located at the junction of U.S. Route 50 and West Virginia Route 74; the North Bend Rail Trail also passes through the city.