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.
Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It has an estimated population (as of July 1, 2005) of 78,736. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. The city was named for the place of origin of many of the early settlers, Danbury, Essex in England. The city has been nicknamed Hat City, because it used to be a center of the hat industry, at one point producing 25% of America's hats. Danbury is home to Danbury Hospital, northeast of downtown, and Danbury High School, off Route 39.