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.
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named for Rueben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s. Branson is a popular destination for vacationers from Missouri and the surrounding states. The population was 6,050 at the 2000 census. The Branson Micropolitan Statistical Area embraces Stone and Taney counties.