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.
Jonesville is a town in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, at the confluence of the Ouachita, Tensas, and Little rivers. The three rivers become the Black River at Jonesville though the "Black" is primarily the continuation of the Ouachita River. A new bridge over the Black River is under construction. After some miles, the Black flows into the Red River. The Jonesville population was 2,469 at the 2000 census. The parish seat is Harrisonburg to the north, which is actually smaller than Jonesville. Chris Shivers, a champion rodeo performer, lives with his family in Jonesville. William B. Atkins, a former member of both house of the Louisiana State Legislature (1980–1988), is from Jonesville.