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.
Hardwick is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,174 at the 2000 census. It contains the incorporated village of Hardwick and the unincorporated villages of East Hardwick and Mackville. The town is a commercial center for the region's farming population.