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.
Bradford is a census-designated place (CDP) and historic district in the town of Westerly in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 1,497 at the 2000 census. Bradford was named for Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.