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.
Hamlin is a city in Fisher and Jones Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 2,248 at the 2000 census. The Jones County portion of Hamlin is part of the Abilene, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.