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.
Seminole is a city in and the county seat of Gaines County in west Texas, United States. The population was 5,910 at the 2000 census. It is the birthplace of Country music singers Larry Gatlin and Tanya Tucker. Radio talk-show personality Randi Rhodes got her start in Seminole.