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.
Brightwood is an unincorporated community within the Mount Hood Corridor in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. It is located between Wemme and Sandy just off of U.S. Route 26 at an elevation of 355 meters. It is one of the communities that make up the Villages at Mount Hood. A post office called "Salmon" was established in the area in 1891, named after the nearby Salmon River. The post office was renamed Brightwood in 1910. The name Brightwood was said to have been coined by a local resident, Mr. Alcorn, for the pleasing effect of the sun shining on the cottonwood trees in the spring.