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.
Foster is a community partly within the city of Sweet Home in Linn County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the western end of the Foster Reservoir. A post office named Foster serves ZIP code 97345, which serves areas beyond the Sweet Home city limits on both the north and south sides of Foster Lake: on the north side, the area extends along the Middle Santiam River to the west end of Green Peter Lake; on the south, the area extends for several miles along the South Santiam River and Santiam Highway.