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.
Longview is a city in Gregg and Harrison Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 73,344 at the 2000 census, but a 2006 estimate placed the city's population at 77,793. Most of the city is located in Gregg County, of which it is the county seat; only a small part extends into the western part of neighboring Harrison County. It is situated in East Texas, on the grid of Interstate 20 and U.S. Highways 80 and 259, just north of the Sabine River. Longview is a commercial hub for the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area. Longview is the principal city of the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger MSA made up of Gregg, Upshur, and Rusk counties. Longview is considered a major hub city in the region, as is the nearby city of Tyler.