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.
Cabot is a town located in the northeast corner of Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,213 at the 2000 census. It contains the unincorporated villages of Cabot Village, Cabot Plains, South Cabot, East Cabot, Molly's Pond, and Lower Cabot. Another village store is located in Lower Cabot. Cabot contains several ponds, and dairy farms.