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.
Elmwood Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 18,925. Prior to 1916, the area was known as Dundee Lake, a section of Saddle River Township. Residents of the Dundee Lake area voted on April 18, 1916, to secede from Saddle River Township to form the Borough of East Paterson. In 1917, residents of the Rosemont section of Saddle River Township voted to be annexed to East Paterson. In November 1972, residents voted to change the name of the Borough to Elmwood Park. The new name became official on January 1, 1973.