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.
Kerrville is a city in Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,425 at the 2000 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, and friend of settler-founder Joshua Brown, who settled in the area to start a shingle-making camp. Being nestled in the hills of Texas Hill Country, Kerrville is best known for its beautiful parks that line the Guadalupe River - which runs directly through the city, its nearby youth summer camps, hunting ranches, and RV parks. It's also the home of Texas' Official State Arts & Crafts Fair, the Kerrville Folk Festival, H-E-B Grocery Stores, Mooney Airplane Company, James Avery Jewelry, Kerrville Bus Company, and Schreiner University. The Museum of Western Art (founded 1983) features the work of living artists specializing in the themes of the American West.