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.
Valhalla is a village that is located within the town of Mount Pleasant, New York, in Westchester County. Its population was 5,379 at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census. The name of the town was inspired by a fan of the opera composer Richard Wagner, and the celebrated status of this village comes primarily from its location as the burial places of the remains of numerous well-known people. Valhalla is also the Viking name for heaven, so many people think of it as a pun due to the several huge cemeteries in Valhalla.