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.
North Boston is a hamlet located in the Town of Boston in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, this hamlet population was 2,680. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. North Boston is on the northern town line, located around the junction of NY Routes 277 and 391.