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.
Raymond is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 9,674 at the 2000 census. Part of Pawtuckaway State Park is in the north. The central village in town, where over 29% of the population resides, is defined as the Raymond census-designated place (CDP), and is located along the Lamprey River near New Hampshire Route 27.