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.
Lost Hills (formerly, Lost Hill) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Lost Hills is located 42 miles (68 km) west-northwest of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 305 feet (93 m). The population is 1,938 at the 2000 census. About 75% of the population is engaged in agricultural positions. In Lost Hills, two-thirds of its workers carpool to work in pickup trucks or vans. Many residents work in the same field or orchard as their neighbors. A rest stop by Interstate 5 including restaurants, gasoline stations, and motels is located about one mile (1.6 km) from the town.