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.
Elizabeth is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on the east bank of the Monongahela river, where PA Rte. 51 crosses, 15 miles upstream [south] of Pittsburgh and close to the county line. The population was 1,609 at the 2000 census. The borough of Elizabeth is entirely contained within the 15037 USPS ZIP code.