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.
Paulina is an unincorporated community in Crook County, Oregon, United States, named after Paiute Chief Paulina. Paulina post office was established in 1882. Paulina has one K-8 grade school. The community is the home of the Paulina Rodeo, which was the subject of a Kim Stafford poem, and the Paulina Ranger District of the Ochoco National Forest.