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.
Kingston (formerly Apple Tree Cove) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,611 at the 2000 census. Kingston is along the shores of Apple Tree Cove and the Puget Sound, and is home to a major Washington State Ferries terminal linking it to Edmonds. Kingston's schools include Kingston Co-op Preschool, Gordon Elementary, Kingston Middle School, Spectrum Community School, Wolfle Elementary and the new Kingston High School which opened in September 2007.