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 Dallas is the county seat of Polk County, Oregon, United States. The population was 12,459 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 15,065 in 2007. Dallas is located on Rickreall Creek, approximately 15 miles west of Salem, at an altitude of 325 feet above sea level. It is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area.