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.
Huron is a small city in Fresno County, California, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,306. During the harvest season, the population swells to over 15,000 people due to the influx of migrant farm workers. Huron is located 15 miles (24 km) east-northeast of Coalinga, at an elevation of 374 feet (114 m).