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.
Rutland is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,353 at the 2000 census. Worcester County's only buffalo herd is located in Rutland, at Alta Vista Farm. Rutland is the geographic center of Massachusetts; a tree, The Central Tree, located on Central Tree Rd. marks the general spot. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Rutland, please see the article Rutland (CDP), Massachusetts.