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.
Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, ten miles (16 km) north of Philadelphia. "Jenkintown" is also used to describe a number of neighborhoods surrounding the borough, which also are known by names such as Rydal, Jenkintown Manor and Noble. While the post office will deliver "Jenkintown"-addressed mail to these areas, they are not part of the political entity of Jenkintown; they are within Abington Township. The Jenkintown-Wyncote train station is one of SEPTA's major stops; the R1, R2, R3 and R5 regional rail lines all stop there.