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.
Farmington is a town located in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The population was 23,641 at the 2000 census. It is home to the world headquarters of several large corporations including Carrier Corporation, Otis Elevator Company, and Carvel. As an affluent suburb of Hartford, Farmington is often regarded as one of the most posh and desirable communities in the area. The town was listed among the "preppiest" suburbs in the United States in the tongue-in-cheek 1980s best-seller The Official Preppy Handbook.