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.
Rock Hall is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,396 at the 2000 census. The town is a center for the fishing, crabbing, and oystering industries in Kent County as well as a home to marinas that cater to the pleasure craft that sail the Chesapeake Bay. As a result there are a number of casual seafood restaurants for which the town is regionally well known.