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.
Pompton Lakes is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 10,640. Pompton Lakes was formed as a borough on February 26, 1895, from portions of Pompton Township, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier. Pompton Lakes was the first borough to be formed in Passaic County, as the "borough fever" that had struck elsewhere hit the county. The newly-formed borough did not acquire territory from more than one township, which would have entitled Pompton Lakes to a seat on the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Three rivers, the Ramapo, Pequannock and Wanaque, run through the Borough, providing many relaxing year-round activities for Pompton residents.