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.
Wells is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 737 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Joshua Wells, a land agent, who built the first mills in the area. The Town of Wells is in the Adirondack Park and on the eastern border of the county. It is northwest of Schenectady.