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.
Holden is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is bounded on the west by Rutland; on the northwest by Princeton; on the east by Sterling and West Boylston; on the southeast by Worcester; and on the southwest by Paxton. The town was founded in 1741 and the Town Square (center) was donated by John Hancock, former Governor of Massachusetts. The population was 15,621 at the 2000 census.