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.
Markham, Texas is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. Named in 1903 for C. H. Markham, a railroad engineer for Southern Pacific, the town was founded in 1901 as Cortes. In 1914, it was a designated stop on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad.