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.
Charlestown is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,749 at the 2000 census. Charlestown includes the villages of North Charlestown, South Charlestown and Hemlock Center. The town is home to Hubbard State Forest and the headquarters of the Student Conservation Association. The primary settlement in town, where 24% of the population resides, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Charlestown census-designated place (CDP) and is located along New Hampshire Route 12.