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.
Elmont is a hamlet as well as a bedroom suburb of New York City in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island. Elmont is an unincorporated area of the Town of Hempstead. The population was 33,657 at the 2000 census. Elmont is famous as the home of Belmont Park Race Track, which has the world's largest dirt thoroughbred racecourse. Like many suburbs, Elmont has tree-lined streets, parks, old churches and temples, cultural festivals, parades, and restaurants. NFL Quarterback and Heisman Award winner Vinny Testaverde grew up in Elmont and graduated from Sewanhaka High School.