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.
Gallitzin is a borough within Gallitzin Township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Standing 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Altoona, it was first incorporated in 1872, and named for Prince Gallitzin, who founded the Catholic town of Loretto, Cambria County. Coal-mining and the production of coke were important industries. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1900, 2,759 people lived in Gallitzin, and by 1910, that number had risen to 3,504 people. As of the 2000 census, the borough population was 1,756. Gallitzin is well known for its historic railroad tunnels, which are a minor tourist draw. Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania) and the Allegheny Portage Railroad historic site are also nearby.