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.
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population of Jersey City was 240,055, making it New Jersey's second-largest city after Newark. As of the Census Bureau's 2007 estimate, the population had grown to 242,389. Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between of the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay. A commercial and industrial center, it is a port of entry and a manufacturing center. With 11 miles (17.7 km) of waterfront and significant rail connections, Jersey City is an important transportation terminus and distribution center. Service industries have play a prominent role in the redevelopment of its waterfront and the creation of one of the nation's largest office-space real estate markets.