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.
Hidalgo is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,322 at the 2000 census. It is home to the Rio Grande Valley Dorados of the af2 arena football league, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League, and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League, who play in the local State Farm Arena (Formerly Dodge Arena), also a concert venue serving the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area.