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.
Little Elm is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States and a part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The population was 3,646 at the 2000 census. Current estimates show the population to be 21,800, making Little Elm one of the fastest growing municipalities in Texas since 2000 in terms of percentage.