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.
Camino is an unincorporated town in El Dorado County, California, and has a population of 4,961. According to the USGS, it lies at an elevation of 3133 feet (955 m). Nearby cities and towns include Pollock Pines, Placerville, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, Grizzly Flats, Somerset, Coloma, Garden Valley, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, and Lotus. The elevation of Camino ranges between 3,000 and 3,500 feet, and gets snow several times per year. Camino is a popular area in the fall for apples and is often incorrectly referred to as Apple Hill, which is the trademarked name of the Apple Hill Growers Association, a 55 member collection of ranches in Camino/Placerville/Pollock Pines. Camino is located about half way between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe on U.S. Route 50. The first post office was opened in 1904; the ZIP code is 95709. The community is inside area code 530.