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.
Patchogue is a waterfront village on the south shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 12,919 at the 2000 census. The village is named after the Patchogue Indians, who once inhabited the area. Patchogue is part of the town of Brookhaven, on the South Shore of Long Island on the Great South Bay. The village is served by the Patchogue Post Office, which also serves the hamlet of Davis Park and other areas on Fire Island.