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.
Tidewater is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States located on the Alsea River east of Waldport on Oregon Route 34. Tidewater was named because it is near the of the Alsea River. Tidewater post office was established in 1878. Tidewater is the home of White Wolf Sanctuary, a rescue facility for Arctic wolves.