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.
Poteet is a city in Atascosa County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,305 at the 2000 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Poteet is known for its "Poteet Strawberry Festival" and being the birthplace of country singer George Strait. In the comic strip Steve Canyon, by Milton Caniff, Steve's daughter is named "Poteet" after the town in Texas.