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.
Purgitsville is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. According to the 2000 census, the Purgitsville community has a population of 813. Purgitsville is located on U.S. Highway 220/West Virginia Route 28 at its intersection with Huffman Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 220/3) south of Junction. An elementary school, Mill Creek Elementary, was open here until 1993 when it was consolidated with Romney Elementary. Purgitsville began as a small farming and trading village in the early 19th century. In 1863, McNeill's Rangers were ambushed near the village by the Ringgold Cavalry, a Union force, but escaped with no fatalities.