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.
Derry is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 34,021 at the 2000 census. Although it is a town and not a city, Derry is the fourth most-populous community in New Hampshire. The primary settlement in town, where over 66% of the population resides, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Derry census-designated place (CDP) and includes the densely-populated portions of the town centered on the intersection of New Hampshire Route 28 and New Hampshire Route 102.