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.
Nacogdoches is a city in Nacogdoches County, Texas, in the United States. The 2000 census recorded the city's population to be 29,914, while in 2007 it was estimated to have reached 32,006. It is the county seat of Nacogdoches County and is situated in East Texas. Nacogdoches is a sister city of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Nacogdoches is the home of Stephen F. Austin State University and of the Association for Business Communication. Nacogdoches made international headlines in February 2003, after receiving much of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster debris.