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.
Walton is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located halfway between Eugene and Florence on Oregon Route 126. Construction of Route 126 began in 1881, and after it crossed the Oregon Coast Range near Noti, it followed a tributary of the Siuslaw River named Walton Creek. Walton post office was established in 1884 to serve the settlers along the new route and postmaster James L. Atkinson named it for the stream. The stream was in turn named for Joshua J. Walton, a pioneer lawyer who served as a county judge and regent for the University of Oregon. After the turn of the 19th century, the stream's name was changed to Wildcat Creek.