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.
Seffner is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,467 at the 2000 census, although its ZIP codes (33584 & 33583), which boundaries extend beyond the ones given by the census and include the places of Mango and a portion of Thonotosassa, have a population of around 35,000. Approximately 15 miles east of downtown Tampa, Seffner serves as a suburban haven for commuters. Characterized by towering live oak trees, strawberry farms and pristine lakes, this small town has been growing rapidly. Upscale, gated subdivisions now dot the once rural landscape.