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.
Merrick is a hamlet in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 22,764. The name Merrick is taken from "Meroke", the name (meaning peaceful) of the Algonquin tribe formerly indigenous to the area. It is served by the Merrick station on the Long Island Rail Road.