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.
Aquebogue is a census-designated place (CDP) roughly corresponding to the hamlet (unincorporated community) by the same name in the town of Riverhead in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The CDP's population was 2,254 at the 2000 census. Aquebogue is part of Long Island's North Fork wine region and is home to such wineries as Paumanouk Vineyards.