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.
Cougar is a former town, and now unincorporated community, in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. The population was 122 at the 1990 census; it was not measured in 2000. The town is located on the Lewis River, 24 miles northeast of Woodland. Because it is situated only 11 miles south-southwest of Mount St. Helens, in 1980 the entire town was evacuated because of the danger of volcanic eruption. Cougar’s geographic location is 46.051N, -122.298W. The town’s ZIP code is 98616 and its telephone area code is 360.