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.
Saraland is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, in the United States, and a suburb of Mobile, Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 12,288. It is a part of the Mobile metropolitan statistical area. Saraland is the third largest city in Mobile County. Royal Dutch Shell operates the Shell Saraland Refinery in Saraland.