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.
Mineola is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 19,233 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from a Native American word meaning a "pleasant place. " The majority of the Village of Mineola is located in the Town of North Hempstead, with a slim portion of its southern edge within the Town of Hempstead. Old Country Road runs along the southern border of the village. The area serviced by the Mineola Post Office extends further south into the adjacent village of Garden City, New York, where the county seat of Nassau County is located. Offices of many Nassau agencies are located in both Mineola and Garden City.