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.
Pukalani is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaiʻi, United States. The population was 7,380 at the 2000 census. The general volcano-slope region, including nearby Makawao and Kula, is referred to as upcountry by locals, and is one of the four major population centers on Maui, the other three being Kahului, Lahaina and Kīhei all of which are at sea level.