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.
Hector is a town in the northeastern corner of Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 4,854 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Hector Ely, who at the time was the firstborn son of the town founders. Hector is west of Ithaca, New York.