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.
West Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida. West Palm's economy is currently ranked #4 in the Milken Institute Best Performing 296 U.S. Cities index. It is the county seat of Palm Beach County, and one of the principal cities in the South Florida metropolitan area, which has an estimated 2007 population of 5,413,212. The area is known as the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach Metropolitan Division, which covers the entire Palm Beach County area. It is situated in the northernmost county of the South Florida metropolitan area.