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.
Rensselaer Falls is a village located in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 337. The current name came from mill owner Henry Van Rensselaer. The Village of Rensselaer Falls is in the western part of the Town of Canton and is due west of the Village of Canton.