§ 604. Additional authority

(a) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of any general or special law relating to the powers and authorities of electric utilities or any limitation imposed by their charters, the City of Burlington, the Village of Lyndonville acting through its board of trustees, and all other Vermont municipal electric utilities shall each have the following additional powers:

(1) jointly or separately to plan, finance, construct, purchase, operate, maintain, use, share costs of, own, mortgage, lease, sell, dispose of, or otherwise participate in electric power generating and transmission facilities or portions thereof within or outside the State or the product or service therefrom or securities issued in connection with the financing of such facilities or portions thereof;

(2) to enter into and perform contracts for such joint or separate planning, financing, construction, purchase, operation, maintenance, use, sharing costs of, ownership, mortgaging, leasing, sale, disposal of, or other participation in electric power generating and transmission facilities, or portions thereof, within or outside the State of the product or service therefrom, or securities issued in connection with the financing of electric power facilities or portions thereof, including, contracts for the payment of obligations imposed without regard to the operational status of a facility or facilities and contracts for the sale or purchase of electricity from an electric power facility or facilities for long or short periods of time or for the life of a specific electric generating unit or units.

(b) Other electric utilities, whether cooperative, municipal, or privately owned, may enter into and perform contracts with the City of Burlington and all other Vermont municipal electric utilities for the purposes of this section. The provisions of this chapter shall not otherwise affect the jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission regarding the activities of the Burlington electric light department and of the Village of Lyndonville electric light department, or any municipal utility formed within the State of Vermont.

(c) Cooperative and municipal electric utilities, in accordance with chapter 83 of this title, and other electric utilities may enter into and perform contracts with the City of Burlington, the Village of Lyndonville, and all other Vermont municipal electric utilities for the purposes of this section.

(d) The Town of Rockingham shall have the authority, if duly authorized by its voters in accordance with the procedures set forth in chapter 79 of this title for the formation of a municipal utility, whether such vote or authorization occurs before or after June 8, 2004 and after obtaining a certificate of public good pursuant to section 248 of this title, to acquire, own, and operate the hydroelectric generating facilities located at Bellows Falls, Vermont, notwithstanding the fact the output of such facilities may exceed the electric needs of the Town and its municipal utility, and to sell that portion of the output of such facilities that exceeds the needs of the Town in serving its own municipal utility and such municipal utility's own customers. The Town shall not have the authority to acquire the hydroelectric generating facilities located at Bellows Falls, Vermont by eminent domain for a period of 10 years commencing on January 1, 2005. In selling any of the output of such generating facilities, the Town of Rockingham shall not have the authority to seek or obtain treatment as a "qualifying facility" under 18 C.F.R. § 292.201-207 or subdivision 209(a)(8) of this title, and Rockingham shall not have the authority to own or operate such facilities or a portion of such facilities if such facilities otherwise obtain treatment as a "qualifying facility."

(e) A municipality owning a municipal plant and conducting itself as a utility under chapter 79 of this title shall have the authority to acquire equity ownership of Vermont Transco LLC or Vermont Electric Power Company, or both, and to finance the acquisition of equity ownership by any means permitted under 24 V.S.A. subchapters 1 and 2 or municipal charter. The terms under which equity ownership is acquired pursuant to this subsection shall not include any provision of guaranty, assessment, indemnification, or joint and several liability applicable to any such municipality. (Added 1973, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), eff. March 25, 1974; amended 1977, No. 275 (Adj. Sess.), § 18, eff. April 12, 1978; 1977, No. 278 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Feb. 9, 1978; 2003, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 95, eff. June 8, 2004; 2007, No. 83 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 28, 2008.)