(A) Prior to the proposed acquisition of a project for the generation or transmission of electric power and energy by a joint agency, a petition must be filed with the Public Service Commission setting forth the material necessary to permit the Public Service Commission to make the determination required by this section. Notice of the filing of the petition must be given by the Public Service Commission once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the State. A hearing on the petition is to be conducted as provided by law.
(B) The Public Service Commission is authorized to approve or disapprove the proposed acquisition by a joint agency of a project or projects which consist of an electric generating plant or plants and associated facilities designed for, or capable of, operation at a capacity of more than seventy-five megawatts, or which consist of electric transmission lines and associated facilities of a designed operating voltage of one hundred twenty-five kilovolts or more. There is no requirement for approval by the Public Service Commission for a project or projects for other transmission or generating facilities, or for facilities for distribution or transformation, or any of them, of electric power and energy. However, the joint agency may not acquire or purchase projects or capacity if, after the purchase or acquisition, the joint power agency would own, contract for, or control generating resources exceeding one hundred eighty-five percent of the member municipalities historical territorial peak. In determining whether it is beneficial to the joint agency, the Public Service Commission shall take into consideration, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) the economies and efficiencies to be achieved in constructing on a large scale, facilities for the generation and transmission of electric power and energy;
(2) the municipalities' needs for reserve and peaking capacity and to meet obligations under pooling and reserve-sharing agreements reasonably related to its needs for power and energy to which it is or may become a party;
(3) the estimated useful life of the project;
(4) the estimated time necessary for the planning, development, acquisition, or construction of the project and the length of time required in advance to obtain, acquire, or construct additional power supplies;
(5) the reliability and availability of existing or alternative power supply sources and the costs of the existing or alternative power supply sources;
(6) the load forecast of capacity of a project and the utilization of the capacity by the joint agency for a reasonable period of time subsequent to the date of commercial operation of the project; and
(7) the effect of the proposed acquisition on the ability of the joint agency to satisfy existing financial and contractual obligations that it may have incurred in the acquisition of any previously acquired projects.
(C) Any party in interest may appeal the commission's action pursuant to Sections 58-27-2310 to 58-27-2340 of the 1976 Code.
HISTORY: 1978 Act No. 473, Section 7; 1979 Act No. 176, Section 3; 1996 Act No. 358, Section 1; 2007 Act No. 32, Section 2, eff May 22, 2007.
Effect of Amendment
The 2007 amendment added paragraph (B)(7).