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.
Vanderpool is a small unincorporated community in Bandera County in the U.S. state of Texas, in the Texas Hill Country, which is part of the Edwards Plateau. It lies 30 miles (48 km) west of Bandera. Hunting, ranching and tourism are chief contributors to the regional economy. Vanderpool had a population of 22 in 1990. It is considered part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.