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.
Quincy is a census-designated place and the county seat of Plumas County, California. The population was 1,879 at the 2000 census. Quincy is named after the city of Quincy, Illinois. The town is noted as being the most recent home of the High Sierra Music Festival and as the home town of Major League Baseball utility outfielder, Jason Ellison, who was born in Quincy in 1978. Quincy is also the home of E Clampus Vitus Las Plumas del Oro #8 and the Norcal Metal band ITEM NYNE.