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.
Olema is an unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located on Olema Creek 2.25 miles (3.6 km) south-southeast of Point Reyes Station, at an elevation of 69 feet (21 m). Olema is along State Route 1 and on the eastern edge of the Point Reyes Peninsula in the western part of Marin County. "Olema" is Miwok for coyote. Olema was once thought to be the epicenter of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake due to the huge fault rifts still visible via a nearby hiking path. There are historical references to this in and around the town, including at shops and restaurants. However, more recent evidence suggests that a location near Daly City is more likely the epicenter. Olema also was the title subject of the late-1960s country-rock song, "Hippie from Olema", The Youngbloods' rejoinder to Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee". The Olema post office opened in 1859, closed in 1860, and re-opened in 1864.