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.
Pavo is a city that is divided by the county line between Brooks County and Thomas County, Georgia. It is part of the Valdosta, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 711 at the 2000 census – 418 of the city's 711 residents (58.8%) lived in Thomas County and 298 (41.2%) in Brooks County. Pavo is home to a branch of the Thomas County Public Library System. Pavo was featured in country music star Alan Jackson's video for his hit song "Little Man", lamenting the decline of small town America.