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.
Pierce is a city in Clearwater County, Idaho. Elias D. Pierce and Wilbur F. Bassett made the first discovery of gold in Idaho, on Orofino Creek (Canal Gulch) in 1860, a mile (1.6 km) north of Pierce. . The population was 617 at the 2000 census. Pierce was once the county seat for Shoshone County, Washington Territory. The Pierce Courthouse, constructed in 1862, is Idaho's oldest public building. The Bald Mountain Ski Area is located 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Pierce.