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.
Texas Charter Township, officially named the Charter Township of Texas, is a charter township of Kalamazoo County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 10,919. It encompasses the entire portion of the survey township T3S R12W. The township encompasses two major highway trunklines: I-94 and US-131 (which actually only borders along the eastern boundary with the City of Portage). The township wholly contains the Al Sabo Preserve, which straddles Portage Creek through southwestern Kalamazoo County. Schools in the township include Mattawan High School and Portage Public Schools The Texas Township Campus of Kalamazoo Valley Community College is located on the southern side of West O Avenue, just east of 8th Street South.