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.
Menlo is a small unincorporated community in the Willapa Valley of Pacific County, Washington, United States. It was settled in 1851 as a donation land claim. Menlo was named Menlo Park in 1893 when the Northern Pacific Railway line was laid down through the Willapa Valley. It was shortened to just Menlo when the sign was cut in half. Menlo today is home to a general store and post office, the Pacific County Fairgrounds and a secondary/high school — Willapa Valley High School.