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.
Thomaston is an unincorporated community in southeastern DeWitt County, Texas, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 87 southeast of the city of Cuero, the county seat of DeWitt County. Its elevation is 161 feet (49 m). Although Thomaston is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 77989. Founded along the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railroad in 1872, the community was named for Nathan Thomas, who had previously owned part of the land on which the community was built. The community's post office was opened in 1873; schools were started early in the community's history, although local students now attend the Cuero schools. Thomaston has declined in recent decades as non-railroad transportation has become significant.