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.
Port Byron is a village in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,297 at the 2000 census. The village is believed to be named after Lord Byron. The Village of Port Byron is in the Town of Mentz and is north of Auburn, New York. The local school is the Port Byron Central School District. Byron, Minnesota, a small town in southeastern Minnesota was named after Port Byron, New York, the name being suggested by George W. Van Dusen, a grain dealer who was formerly from Port Byron, NY.