Vermont § 131 - Electric utility

§ 131. Electric utility

• (a) There shall be a Village of Hyde Park electric utility, which shall serve the area
  so designated by the Vermont Public Utility Commission. (b) The Electric Utility Commission shall be composed of the five trustees of the Village
  of Hyde Park. (c) The trustees shall serve as electric commissioners under 30 V.S.A. §§ 2915 and 2916. The trustees shall have authority to construct an electric light plant, for the
  purpose of lighting the street, walks, and other public grounds, and lighting any
  buildings therein, and supplying and furnishing electricity for domestic and other
  purposes and to such persons and corporations in Hyde Park and adjoining towns as
  it may desire upon such terms as may be agreed upon. And for this purpose may take,
  purchase, or acquire and hold any water power, land, and rights-of-way in said towns
  needed for the construction, maintenance, and operation of said electric light plant,
  and may use any public highway over which it may be necessary or desirable to pass
  with the poles and wire of the same, provided the use of such public highway for the
  purpose of public travel is not thereby unnecessarily impaired. The trustees shall
  have the power to purchase, hire, construct, or otherwise acquire an interest in,
  to maintain, operate, and to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of any plant (including
  a gas plant) or system (including existing rights-of-way, poles, lines, towers, and
  fixtures and transmission line serving the existing system owned by others) located
  within or outside the State, for the production, distribution, purchase, or sale of
  electricity, to extend, enlarge, or improve the same and for that purpose to purchase,
  hire, construct, or otherwise acquire any real or personal property. These powers
  may be exercised through a taking by eminent domain in the manner prescribed by law.
  The trustees shall also have the power to purchase, sell, and otherwise acquire and
  dispose of electricity, including sale to electric distribution companies, cooperatives,
  municipal and privately owned, within or outside the State, and to make all agreements,
  conveyances, and regulations necessary or convenient in connection therewith. All
  of the foregoing powers are in addition to and not in substitution for or in limitation
  of any other powers conferred by law, and are subject to regulatory review for municipal
  utilities as provided in Title 30 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated. (d) The trustees shall administer their responsibilities in the Electric Department.
  The Department shall have its own professional management, staff, plan, equipment,
  and entirely separate financial accounts. The Department shall be directly managed
  under the trustees by a General Manager. The trustees shall hire and fire Electric
  Department personnel. The General Manager shall have the special and immediate care
  and practical supervision of the Electric Department. The General Manager shall at
  all times be subject in respect to his or her responsibilities to the order of the
  trustees. With approval of the trustees’ Utility Commission, the General Manager
  of the Electric Department shall receive all funds due the Village of Hyde Park Electric
  Department, shall issue account, execute and issue on behalf of the Village of Hyde
  Park Electric Department drafts, checks, and/or other negotiable orders for the payment
  of bills and charges of the Electric Department, provided that any such payment shall
  be made exclusively from the revenue of the Department. All such accounting functions
  of the Electric Department shall be subject to the review by the auditors of the Village
  of Hyde Park. (e) The Village of Hyde Park shall inherit all of the assets, accounts, and liabilities
  of the Village of Hyde Park Electric Department under the general supervision of the
  trustees. It shall operate under the statutory authority and requirements of 30 V.S.A.
  chapter 79, relating to municipal electric plants, and 24 V.S.A. chapter 53, relating
  to municipal indebtedness, all of which control the financing, improvements, expansion,
  and disposal of the municipal electric plant and its operations. With specific reference
  to the legislative authorization contained in 24 V.S.A. chapter 53, subchapter 2,
  “Indebtedness for Public Utility Purposes,” sections 1821-1828, the Hyde Park trustees
  are permitted to issue revenue-backed bonds and/or general obligation bonds for any
  capital improvement purpose related to their responsibilities to operate such utilities
  for the benefit of the people of the Village of Hyde Park, provided each such issue
  of bonds is approved by the trustees and the voters according to law. (f) The charges and rates for electric service shall be a lien on real estate, wherever
  located, furnished with such service in the same manner and to the same effect as
  taxes are a lien upon real property under 32 V.S.A. § 5061. The owner of such property, furnished with electric service, wherever located,
  shall be liable for such charges and rates. (g) The Village of Hyde Park Electric Department shall take over for administrative purposes
  all contractual benefits and obligations that involve or apply to its operations as
  an electric utility without any further act, deed, or instrument being necessary,
  or the approval of any agency of State government. (h) The Electric Department shall every year make a contribution to the Village of Hyde
  Park in lieu of taxes in the form of a cash payment and/or the equivalent in free
  services and municipal rate benefits in an amount equaling the amount of money that
  would be received by the Village of Hyde Park in ad valorem real taxes and personal
  property inventory taxes were such Department a privately owned utility. (Added 1999, No. M-11 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 9, 2000.)