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.
The city of Coos Bay is located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders on the nearby city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one entity called either Coos Bay-North Bend or the Bay Area. Coos Bay had a total population of 15,374 in the 2000 census, with a 2007 estimate of 16,210 residents.