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.
Great River is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It was formerly known as Youngsport and was once a mansion-heavy enclave, home to many aristocratic New York families including the Vanderbilts. The majority of the hamlet was rezoned for average size homes, yet today the estate of William Bayard Cutting still remains and was donated as an arboretum to the State of New York by Mr. Cutting's widow and daughter. The population was 1,546 at the 2000 census. It derives its name from being at mouth of the Connetquot River.