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.
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population size was recorded as 94,304 in the 2000 census. The city and Plymouth are the county seats of Plymouth County. Brockton is the 6th largest city in Massachusetts and is sometimes referred to the "City of Champions", mainly due to the success of native boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, as well as its successful Brockton High School sports programs.