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 Stream is a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population in the village of Valley Stream is 36,368. When including North Valley Stream, South Valley Stream, and other areas considered to be in the town of Valley Stream, the total population is around an estimated 65,000 people. The Incorporated Village of Valley Stream is inside the southwest part of the Town of Hempstead along the border with Queens. The village is served by the Long Island Rail Road at the Valley Stream station, located at Sunrise Highway and Franklin Avenue.