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.
Lacey is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. Established as a suburb of Olympia, Lacey's estimated population as of 2009 was 39,250, as compared to 43,900 for Olympia. Thurston County, which includes the cities of Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater, has a population of 239,355 as of the 2009 census.