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.
Red Oak is a city in Ellis County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,301 at the 2000 census. More recent estimates of the city's population give it as 6,200. The North Central Texas Council of Governments projects that number to grow to 63,329 by the year 2030, as it is on the verge of explosive suburban growth. Red Oak was also the exterior location for filming "True Stories", a film by David Byrne of Talking Heads released in 1986.