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.
Sunderland is a small, rural community located in Calvert County, Maryland, approximately 5 miles south of Dunkirk, Maryland and 10 miles north of Prince Frederick, Maryland. Although Sunderland is not incorporated and does not have a central business district, it does have a zip code, 20689. However, as of November 2007, the former Sunderland post office had closed its doors due to a lease dispute without opening a new location, and postal officials are determining where to locate a new post office location..