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.
Freehold is an unincorporated hamlet in the town of Greenville in Greene County, New York, United States. It has the ZIP Code 12431, and its own fire district. The hamlet is centered around the junction of NY 32 and Greene County Route 67. There are some buildings there, such as a gas station, the firehouse and a general store. Although it is not in the Catskill Mountains, the range's northern Escarpment dominates the view south from Freehold.