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.
Westbrookville is a hamlet in the town of Deerpark in Orange County, New York, United States, along US 209. Westbrookville was named for Dirck Van Keuren Westbrook, an early settler. Fort Westbrook, dating back to the American Revolution, is extant. The 1900-1930 US Census lists it as part of Mamakating in Sullivan County, New York. Situated between Port Jervis and Wurtsboro, it is close to the borders of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is located within the Port Jervis City School district. It contains many small businesses, Westbrookville Cemetery. The city once housed the J. E. Ashworth & Sons blanket mill.