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.
Southborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It incorporates the smaller villages of Cordaville, Fayville, and Southville. Its name is often informally shortened to Southboro, a usage seen on many area signs and maps. Its population was 8,781 at the 2000 census. Land use is primarily residential with substantial open space. A quarter of the town's area is flooded by the Sudbury Reservoir. Light industrial land use is concentrated along main roads, primarily Massachusetts Rte. 9, and there are several small business districts in the villages and along Rte. 9. Southborough was named Number 31 in the nation on CNN Money's 100 Best Places to Live in 2009.