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.
Lake Stevens is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States that surrounds the lake bearing the same name. It is southeast of Marysville, north of the city of Snohomish, and east of Everett. The population was 6,361 at the 2000 census. The population as of January 2010 is 25,674, with much of the growth due to annexation.