Public utility companies have prided themselves for years on their efficiency and their friendly relations with their customers. Now their erstwhile friends are furious over high rates or poor ser vice, and often over both at once. At least a dozen utilities from Pennsylvania to California have recently applied for permission to raise their charges. If granted, the increases could add nearly $400 million to U.S. gas and electric bills. Such moves normally stir up only routine opposition, but this year U.S. consumers are displaying an increasing choler over the cost and condition of all kinds of goods and...
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