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.
Cloutierville is an unincorporated community in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies about 20 miles (32 km) south of the city of Natchitoches on exit 119 at Interstate 49. The community is part of the Natchitoches Micropolitan Statistical Area. This is a homeland of many multiracial Louisiana Creole people. The town was built on the plantation of Alexis Cloutier and incorporated in 1822. The plantation was later owned by Kate Chopin. The town is home to the Chopin House, Bayou Folk Museum, and the St. John Catholic Church and cemetery.