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.
Middleport is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 1,917 at the 2000 census. The mail ZIP code is 14105. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Village of Middleport lies on the eastern edge of Niagara County, mostly inside the boundaries of the Town of Royalton, but a small part is within the Town of Hartland. Middleport is a port on the Erie Canal.