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.
Aberdeen is a city in Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,842 at the 2000 census. As with all Aberdeens outside Scotland, it was named after the original Aberdeen City by Scots emigrating from home. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which is the 20th-largest United States metropolitan area. The nearest city to Aberdeen is Havre de Grace, Maryland, 4.8 miles (7.7 km) to the northeast.