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.
Columbia is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 28 miles (45 km) southeast of Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River across from Wrightsville. Originally, the place was called "Wright's Ferry. " It was founded in 1726 by English Quakers from Chester County. Population counts were these: in 1890, 10,199; in 1900, 12,316; in 1910, 11,454; in 1920, 10,836; and in 1940, 11,547. The population was 10,311 at the 2000 census.