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.
Groveton is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Northumberland in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,197 at the 2000 census. It is the location of a large paper mill at the intersection of U.S. Route 3 and NH-110. The paper mill, which was the primary employer in Groveton, was closed by Wausau Papers in 2008. Groveton is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.