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.
Dennis Port (or Dennisport) is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Dennis in Barnstable County, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. At the 2000 census, its population was 3,612. The Swan River roughly demarcates Dennis Port's western border with West Dennis. The village of West Harwich lies directly to Dennis Port's east, with the border demarcated by the median of Division Street. To the north of Dennis Port is South Dennis. Like other villages along Nantucket Sound, Dennis Port features warm-water beaches, like Haigis Beach, Sea Street Beach, and Glendon Road Beach. Many consider these among Cape Cod's most desirable for swimming and windsurfing. By U.S. standards, real estate prices in Dennis Port remain exorbitantly high. Housing stock consists mostly of World War II–era beach cottages built in the Cape Cod architectural style, although many have been expanded or replaced with larger, more contemporary beach houses. Many streets in Dennis Port—particularly those south of Lower County Road, within 0.5 miles of the beaches—evoke the quaint ambiance of an early-20th century seasonal retreat. There are a great deal of hotels, cottage retreats, and businesses geared towards tourists. Famous residents of Dennis Port include U.S. military hero Benjamin F. Baker.