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.
Wappingers Falls is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The name is derived from the local Wappinger Indians. One half of the village is in the town of Wappinger and the other half is in the town of Poughkeepsie, with Wappinger Creek forming the dividing line between the towns. The Wappingers Falls Historic District includes downtown, several adjacent residential neighborhoods, and Mesier Park & Homestead. Mesier Park has been a public park since ca. 1891, and hosts many annual events that focus around the band stand and tree lined paths of the park. The Village of Wappingers Falls also holds claim to New York State's 6th oldest library, the Grinnell Library.