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.
Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The population was 12,873 at the 2000 census. Out of 566 municipalities statewide, Ridgefield Park is only one of four villages in New Jersey, joining Loch Arbour, Ridgewood and South Orange.