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.
Madison is a town in the southeastern corner of New Haven County, Connecticut, and it occupies a central location on the Connecticut Shoreline area. The population was 18,812 at the 2000 census. Madison was first settled in 1641. Throughout the 18th century, Madison was known as East Guilford until it was incorporated as a town in 1826. Since then, Madison and Guilford have shared many cultural and economic similarities despite an unofficial high school rivalry. Bill Clinton mentions the town in his autobiography, My Life. Hammonasset State Park in Madison possesses the state's longest public beach, with campsites, picnic areas, and a fishing pier, and is extremely popular in the summer causing traffic jams on I-95 on peak days. Also located in the town is Surf Club Beach, with lifeguards and recreation fields, as well as the Madison Beach Club, a private country club.