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.
Shanks is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. According to the 2000 census, the Shanks community has a population of 806. Shanks is located east of Romney along the Northwestern Turnpike on the eastern flanks of South Branch Mountain. The community is centered around the intersection of U.S. Route 50 and Allen Hill Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 50/7). Shanks Roadside Park is located directly to its west on U.S. Route 50. The North Fork Little Cacapon River runs through the community. Most of Shanks' population resides at the Judy Mobile Homes Court behind the current post office along Allen Hill Road South. It has also become popular with people looking to refurbish older farmhouses along U.S. Route 50 and Allen Hill Road North.