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.
Steilacoom is a town in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,049 at the 2000 census. Steilacoom is on the coast of Puget Sound, on a branch not visible on the map to the right. Steilacoom incorporated in 1854 and became the first incorporated town in what is now Washington State. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Steilacoom ranks 61st of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked. The Steilacoom School District #1 consists of Cherrydale Primary School, Saltar's Point Elementary School, Harriet Taylor Elementary School, Anderson Island School, Chloe Clark Elementary School, Pioneer Middle School, and Steilacoom High School.