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.
Oroville (formerly, Ophir City) is the county seat of Butte County, California. The population was 13,004 at the 2000 census, and it is one of the faster growing towns in California, with an 11.9% increase in population from 2000 to June 2007. The national average population increase is less than one percent. The Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California is headquartered here.