Sid Melton plays "Ed Ferguson" the plumber. In later episodes he would be known as "Alf" - one half of the carpenter team Alf and Ralph Monroe, the so-called "Monroe Brothers."
Sarah, the Hooterville phone operator, owns the company. Later in the series' run, her son Roy Trendell owns it and she is his employee.
The phone company will run a line to the Douglas' house in three months. The power company will take six months.