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.
North Bend is a city in Coos County, Oregon, in the United States. North Bend's estimated population is 9,855 (as of 2010). The city is surrounded on three sides by Coos Bay and borders the city of Coos Bay, Oregon to the south. North Bend is also the seat of the Coquille Indian Tribe's tribal government, which is a United States recognized sovereign tribe.