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.
Barwick is a town divided by the county line between Brooks County and Thomas County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Valdosta, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 444 at the 2000 census – 328 of the town's 444 residents (73.9%) lived in Thomas County and 116 (26.1%) in Brooks County.