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.
Oakridge is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The population was 3,148 at the 2000 census. Oakridge is located directly west of Westfir on Oregon Route 58, near the Middle Fork Willamette River in the Cascade Range. The most well known citizen of Oakridge may be Mason Williams, composer of Classical Gas.