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.
Trussville is a city in Jefferson and St. Clair County counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population was 12,924 at the 2000 census. Trussville is ranked as number 56 out of 100 in Money Magazine's Best Places to Live 2005.