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.
Tallulah is a city in and the parish seat of Madison Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 9,189 at the 2000 census. Tallulah is the principal city of the Tallulah Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Madison Parish. Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections operates the Steve Hoyle Rehabilitation Center in Tallulah.