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.
Monhegan is a plantation on an island of the same name in Lincoln County, Maine, United States, about 12 nautical miles (22 km) off the coast. The population was 75 at the 2000 census. As a plantation, Monhegan's governmental status falls between township and town. The island is accessible by mailboat ferry (no automobiles) from Boothbay Harbor, New Harbor and Port Clyde.