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.
Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 55,810, the second-largest city in Stanislaus County. The city's recent rapid growth is evident in its current official population of 70,158. Turlock is part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area.