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.
Hat Creek is an unincorporated town of 400 people in eastern Shasta County, California, 26 miles north of Lassen Park, 13 miles southeast of Burney (9 miles south of the junction of hwy 89 and 299), and 15 miles south of Burney Falls. Its zip code is 96040. Wired telephone numbers are from the Burney central office and follow the pattern 530-335-xxxx. Hat Creek is home to the Hat Creek Radio Observatory, run by UC Berkeley. The town's main economies are tourism, fishing, camping, and lodging. It's still a travel hot spot in Shasta County, although it's about 70 miles east of Redding, CA and about the same to Susanville, CA.