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.
Tallassee (first called Talisi by the Creek Indians) is a city on the Tallapoosa River, located in both Elmore and Tallapoosa counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2000 census the population was 4,934. It is home to a major hydroelectric power plant at Thurlow Dam operated by Alabama Power Company. The Elmore County portion of Tallassee is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Tallapoosa County portion is part of the Alexander City Micropolitan Statistical Area.