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.
Belmont is an unincorporated community in Whitman County, Washington, United States. Because it is not tracked by the U.S. Census, a Census population estimate is not available. There are only about seven houses in Belmont, which is assigned the ZIP code 99104.