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.
Burrel (formerly, Burrell) is an unincorporated community in Fresno County, California. It is located 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Lanare, at an elevation of 203 feet (62 m). Burrel is located southwest of the city of Fresno, midway between California State Route 99 and Interstate 5. A post office was established at Burrel in 1912. The place is named for Cuthbert Burrel, owner of a nearby ranch. In the 1850s and 1860s, nearby Elkhorn Station functioned as a stage stop.