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.
Lake Katrine is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 2,396 at the 2000 census. Lake Katrine is a community in the western part of the Town of Ulster, located near a small lake, also called Lake Katrine. The village is north of the City of Kingston.