The Rural Electric Cooperative Act shall be construed liberally. The enumeration of any object, purpose, power, manner, method or thing shall not be deemed to exclude like or similar objects, purposes, powers, manners, methods or things. Nothing contained in the Rural Electric Cooperative Act shall be construed, however, to conflict with any duty to which a cooperative is subject or with any benefit to which a cooperative is entitled under the Public Utility Act [Chapter 62, Articles 1 to 6 and 8 to 13 NMSA 1978]. In the event any provision of the Rural Electric Cooperative Act is held to be repugnant to any provision of the Public Utility Act or to a cooperative's inclusion as a public utility thereunder, the latter shall be controlling and the former shall be held repealed to the extent of the repugnancy. Nothing in the Public Utility Act shall be deemed to authorize interference with, abrogation or change of the rights or obligations of a party under a wholesale power supply agreement, mortgage or financing agreement to which a distribution cooperative utility is a party.
History: Laws 1939, ch. 47, § 32; 1941 Comp., § 48-432; 1953 Comp., § 45-4-32; Laws 1967, ch. 102, § 4; 2003, ch. 336, § 7.
ANNOTATIONSCompiler's notes. — Laws 1939, ch. 47, § 34 repealed Laws 1937, ch. 100, and provided that the former act, relating to electric membership corporations, shall continue in effect and be applicable to corporations formed under its provisions. For provisions applicable to electric membership corporations, see Laws 1937, ch. 100. For the Public Utility Act repealing repugnant provisions of Laws 1937, ch. 100, see 62-3-2C NMSA 1978 and this section.
Cross references. — As to Public Utility Act repealing repugnant provisions of Rural Electric Cooperative Act, see 62-3-2C NMSA 1978.
The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, deleted "as amended" or "as now or hereafter amended" following "the Rural Electric Cooperative Act" and "Public Utility Act" throughout the section and added the last sentence.
Junior licensee not to interfere with existing system. — Laws 1937, ch. 100, § 10 means that any system of the junior licensee shall be constructed in such manner as not to materially or unreasonably interfere with any existing system. Hale v. Farmers Elec. Membership Corp., 1940-NMSC-009, 44 N.M. 131, 99 P.2d 454 (decided under former law).
No liability if operating in skillful manner. — Where it was not apparent that electric membership corporation had constructed and operated its power line in other than a skillful manner in accordance with the best and most modern methods, it was not liable for inductive interference with use of telephone lines erected and in use many years prior to installation of rural electric power system. Hale v. Farmers Elec. Membership Corp., 1940-NMSC-009, 44 N.M. 131, 99 P.2d 454 (decided under former law).