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.
Carmel is a town located in Putnam County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 36,465. There are no incorporated villages in the town, although the hamlets of Carmel and Mahopac each have populations sizable enough to be thought of as villages. The Town of Carmel is on the south border of the county. The town hall is in Mahopac. Guideposts Magazine, founded by Norman Vincent Peale, is headquartered in Carmel.