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.
Brinnon is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 803 at the 2000 census. It is the home of Camp Parsons, the oldest Boy Scout camp west of the Mississippi. It was visited by Lord Baden-Powell in 1926. Approximately 61 miles (98 km) north of Olympia, Brinnon is located on the Olympic Peninsula's east side, along Hood Canal on the eastern edge of the Olympic National Forest.