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.
Alplaus is a hamlet located in Schenectady County, New York, USA. Its name is derived from the Dutch Aal Plaats, or "Place of the Eels". Alplaus is in the southeast corner of the Town of Glenville. Some may consider it part of the hamlet of East Glenville; however, it is generally recognized as a separate community. For the 2000 census, Alplaus is part of the East Glenville census-designated place. Alplaus has the smallest population in a zip code (12008) within the continental United States. Census data for the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) associated with Alplaus for the 2000 census had a total population of 431 people in 175 households.