respone to thes two students post :

The first that comes to mind in my area is Entergy. They are like most power companies where they are monopolistic by nature, as you do not get to choose who you purchase power from. When you move into an area, you subscribe to the power company that services that area. You do not get a choice.

I thought long and hard about, and I do not know if I would be safe in saying that the gas company Atmos Energy could be a form of a monopoly. My reason being in safely classifying this is, there is not another gas company that I know of here in Dallas Texas that you can get gas services, other than through Atmos. Unless you live out in the country or rural area that offers propane. After I researched available gas companies by many different zip codes, Atmos Energy was the only one that kept coming up. No matter what the going rate is, customers have no choice but to get the service, because this is how many families cook and have hot water, and some even have gas heating.