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.
Emerson is a city in far southern Bartow County, Georgia, United States, on highways 41, 293, and 75. The population was 1,092 at the 2000 census. Emerson is a gateway to Red Top Mountain State Park, a Georgia state park, which is surrounded by Lake Allatoona.