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.
Valley Falls is a village in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 491 at the 2000 census. The village lies on the boundary of the towns of Pittstown and Schaghticoke, but is mostly in the northwest part of Pittstown.