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.
Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 45,256 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 48,739 in 2006. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft (for which "Redmond" has become a metonym) and Nintendo of America. With an annual bike race on city streets and the state's only velodrome, Redmond is also known as "the bicycle capital of the Northwest". (The city is suburban in character, with its main form of transportation actually being the automobile. ) Redmond has a historic downtown with many individually owned businesses which is adjacent to the modern downtown Redmond. Due to its large population of highly paid tech workers, especially those of Microsoft, Redmond is known for its affluence. Based on per capita income, Redmond ranks 20th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.