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.
Clarkston is a city in Asotin County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Lewiston ID-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,337 in 2000. In 1993, Walla Walla Community College opened a Branch Campus in Clarkston that serves the surrounding area, Lewiston, Idaho. It is still a major draw for the surrounding area. With a ZIP code of 99403, Clarkston has the highest zip code of any area in the contiguous United States.