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.
Randolph is a heavily forested town in Coos County, New Hampshire, U.S. , extending from the northern slopes of the White Mountains of the Presidential Range (to the south) to Berlin (to the north), with U.S. Route 2 cutting through the middle. The northern and southern parts of Randolph are within the White Mountain National Forest and the Ice Gulch Town Forest, while the central part is the settled portion of town. The ZIP code of Randolph is 03593. Randolph is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.