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.
Thoreau is a census-designated place (CDP) in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,863 at the 2000 census. Practically all residents pronounce the town's name like "thuh-ROO" (similar to "through" or "threw") and definitely not like "thorough" or "throw. " The town is also not named for Henry David Thoreau, the transcendentalist author, though this is a common misconception. A history of the town was compiled by local author Roxanne Trout Heath in her book "Thoreau, where the trails cross!" published in 1982. The ZIP code for Thoreau is 87323.