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.
Nevada is a city in Collin County, Texas, United States. The population was 563 at the 2000 census. First settled in 1835 by John McMinn Stambaugh and named McMinn Chapel, the area was settled by Granville Stinebaugh, who named it after Nevada Territory (the local pronunciation, though, has the second syllable as "vay"). Nevada enjoyed some prosperity after becoming a stop on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, and the town incorporated in 1889. On 9 May 1927, a half-mile wide tornado ripped through Nevada, leaving 27 dead, 75 injured, and property damage exceeding $1 million. The town had a difficult recovery; citizens voted to unincorporate, and placed the restoration of the community in the hands of the Collin County authorities. However, with the growing mechanisation involved in agriculture, along with the Great Depression, caused the town to fall into stagnation. The railroad later removed its tracks from the area. Recent growth in Collin County during the last 25 years has moderately improved life in Nevada. The population has again reached the heights of 1927, and the town reincorporated in 1988.