Vermont § 604 - Additional authority

§ 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 of it within or
  outside the State or the product or service of it or securities issued in connection
  with the financing of such facilities or portions of it; (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 of it, within or outside the State of the
  product or service of it, or securities issued in connection with the financing of
  electric power facilities or portions of it, 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; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 390, eff. July 1, 2024.)