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.
Bingham is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population of Bingham was 989 at the 2000 census. Bingham is a historic town located beside the Kennebec River. The primary settlement in town, where over 86% of the population resides, is defined as the Bingham census-designated place.