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.
Tecumseh is an unincorporated community in eastern Ozark County, Missouri. It is located on Norfork Lake about ten miles east of Gainesville on U.S. Highway 160. It was named for Tecumseh, a Shawnee Indian chief who settled in the general area.