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.
Taneytown (TAW-nee-town) is a city in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The population was 5,128 at the 2000 census. Taneytown was founded in 1754. Of the town George Washington once wrote "Tan-nee town is but a small place with only the Street through wch. the road passes, built on. The buildings are principally of wood. " Taneytown has a history museum that displays the history of the town for visitors and citizens to see.