Maryland § 5-607

§ 5-607.

    (a)    A cooperative has the power to:

        (1)    Sue and be sued in its corporate name;

        (2)    Have perpetual existence;

        (3)    Adopt and alter a corporate seal;

        (4)    Generate, manufacture, purchase, acquire, accumulate, and transmit electricity;

        (5)    Distribute, sell, supply, and dispose of electricity to:

            (i)    Its members;

            (ii)    Governmental agencies and political subdivisions; and

            (iii)    Other persons not exceeding 10% of the number of its members;

        (6)    Assist persons to whom the cooperative supplies or will supply electricity in wiring their premises by:

            (i)    Providing financing or other assistance; or

            (ii)    Wiring or causing the premises to be wired;

        (7)    Assist persons to whom the cooperative supplies or will supply electricity in acquiring and installing electrical and plumbing appliances, equipment, fixtures, and apparatus by:

            (i)    Providing financing or other assistance;

            (ii)    Wiring or causing the premises to be wired; or

            (iii)    Purchasing, acquiring, leasing as lessor or lessee, selling, distributing, installing, and repairing electrical and plumbing appliances, equipment, fixtures, and apparatus;

        (8)    Assist persons to whom the cooperative supplies or will supply electricity in constructing, equipping, maintaining, and operating electric cold storage or processing plants, by providing financing or other assistance;

        (9)    Construct, purchase, lease as lessee, or otherwise acquire electric transmission and distribution lines or systems, electric generating plants, electric cold storage or processing plants, electric plants, and any other assets considered necessary, convenient, or appropriate to accomplish the purpose for which the cooperative is organized;

        (10)    Equip, maintain, and operate electric transmission and distribution lines or systems, electric generating plants, electric cold storage or processing plants, electric plants, and any other assets considered necessary, convenient, or appropriate to accomplish the purpose for which the cooperative is organized;

        (11)    Sell, assign, convey, lease as lessor, mortgage, pledge, or otherwise dispose of or encumber electric transmission and distribution lines or systems, electric generating plants, electric cold storage or processing plants, electric plants, and any other assets considered necessary, convenient, or appropriate to accomplish the purpose for which the cooperative is organized;

        (12)    Construct, maintain, or operate or allow others to construct, maintain, or operate conducting or communications facilities that furnish telecommunications, broadband Internet access, or related services, along, on, under, or across:

            (i)    Real property, personal property, rights–of–way, and easements owned, held, or otherwise used by the cooperative; and

            (ii)    Publicly owned lands, roadways, and public ways, with the prior consent of the governing body of the municipal corporation or county in which the facilities are proposed to be constructed and under any reasonable regulations and conditions imposed by the governing body of the municipal corporation or county;

        (13)    Purchase, lease as lessee, or otherwise acquire, use and exercise, and sell, assign, convey, mortgage, pledge, or otherwise dispose of or encumber, franchises, rights, privileges, licenses, and easements;

        (14)    Borrow money and otherwise contract indebtedness, issue notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness, and secure the payment of those instruments by mortgage, pledge, or deed of trust, or any other encumbrance on any of its assets, revenues, or income;

        (15)    Construct, maintain, and operate electric transmission and distribution lines along, on, under, and across publicly owned lands, roadways, and public ways, with the prior consent of the governing body of the municipal corporation or county in which the lines are proposed to be constructed and under any reasonable regulations and conditions required in the consent;

        (16)    Exercise the power of condemnation in the manner provided by the law of this State for the exercise of that power by other corporations that construct or operate electric transmission and distribution lines or systems;

        (17)    Become a member of or own stock in other cooperatives or corporations;

        (18)    Conduct its business and exercise its powers in any state, territory, district, and possession of the United States and in any foreign country;

        (19)    Adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws; and

        (20)    Do any other act and exercise any other power that may be necessary, convenient, or appropriate to accomplish the purpose for which the cooperative is organized.

    (b)    A cooperative that furnishes electric cold storage or processing plant service is not considered to be distributing, selling, supplying, or disposing of electricity under subsection (a)(5)(iii) of this section solely on that account.

    (c)    To ensure that electric customers do not subsidize the cost of broadband services, an electric cooperative shall allocate properly all costs incurred under subsection (a)(12) of this section between electricity–related services and broadband services.