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.
Portland is a city in Nueces and San Patricio Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Portland is governed by a unicameral legislation body headed by the mayor and six council members. The terms of office are two years for both the mayor and council members. The current mayor and city manager are David Krebs and Mike Tanner. The population was 14,827 at the 2000 census, with a 2007 estimated population of 16,408.