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.
Blackwood is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Gloucester Township, in Camden County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the section population was 4,692. Blackwood is the home of the main campus of Camden County College, in addition to other locations in Camden and Cherry Hill.