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.
Pampa is a city in Gray County, Texas, United States. The population was 17,887 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gray County. Pampa is the principal city of the Pampa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Gray and Roberts counties. Each July, Pampa hosts the Top 'O Texas Rodeo, which brings competitors from a multi-state area to Gray County. The White Deer Land Company Museum, which contains ranching exhibits, is located in downtown Pampa.