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.
Hillister is an unincorporated community in southern Tyler County, Texas, United States. It lies along the concurrent U.S. Routes 69 and 287 south of the town of Woodville, the county seat of Tyler County. Its elevation is 190 feet (58 m). Although Hillister is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 77624.