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.
Fort Hunter is a hamlet in the town of Florida in Montgomery County, New York, on the Mohawk River at Schoharie Creek. In the 18th century, Fort Hunter was the location of one of the two primary Mohawk settlements. The Mohawk name for the village was rendered variously as Teantontalago, Thienderego, Tionondorage, and Tiononderoga. European colonists called it the "Lower Mohawk Castle", while Canajoharie, the other primary Mohawk village, was known as the "Upper Mohawk Castle". The Dongan Charter gave the city of Albany the right to own 1,000 acres here. In 1711, Albany Mayor Peter Schuyler ordered the construction of Fort Hunter, which contained a chapel and mission house. Queen Anne donated a set of communion silver to the mission. Fort Hunter is the site of the old Schoharie Crossing aqueduct, which crosses Schoharie Creek into the hamlet.