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.
Saranac is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The town is on the western border of the county, west of the City of Plattsburgh and is within the Adirondack Park. The population was 4,165 at the 2000 census. The town is named for the Saranac River that flows past the town.