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.
Wanaque (pronounced WANNA-kew) is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 10,266. Wanaque was incorporated as an independent Borough on February 23, 1918, when Pompton Township was split up into three Boroughs, along with Bloomingdale and Ringwood, based on the results of a referendum held on March 22, 1918.