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.
Gulf Shores is a coastal city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the population was 5,044. However, since the year 2000, Baldwin County as a whole, has experienced rapid population growth, second only to Shelby County in Alabama.