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.
Clarence Center is a hamlet located in the Town of Clarence in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 1,747 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clarence Center, within the south-central part of the town, is the location of most of the town government facilities, although the actual town hall is within the Clarence postal zone. Clarence Center is also one of the postal zones in the town with a ZIP code of 14032. This area is most of the north part of the town.