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.
Dolomite is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. Today much of the community's residential neighborhoods lie within the corporate limits of The City of Birmingham and much of its business district lie within the corporate limits of The City of Hueytown. The most notable landmark is The Bethlehem United Methodist Church which was established in 1818, before Alabama was admitted to the Union. Its adjoining church cemetery contain the graves of some of Jefferson County's early pioneer settlers such as James Tarrant, Mortimer Jordan, and Isaac Wellington Sadler. Dolomite's average elevation is 535 feet (163 m).