(a) Such corporation shall present a petition to the Public Utility Commission and to the Department of Public Service describing the property or right, and stating why it is unable to acquire it without condemnation, and why its acquisition is necessary. The Commission shall set a time and place for hearing such petition and shall issue a citation. The Department, after appropriate investigation, shall present at the hearing on the petition its position on the need for the acquisition, any alternatives to the acquisition, and its recommendations on the acquisition.

(b) The citation shall be served upon each person having any legal interest in the property, including each municipality and each planning body where the property is situate like a summons, or on absent persons in such manner as the Supreme Court may by rule provide for service of process in civil actions. The Commission, in its discretion, may schedule a joint hearing of some or all petitions relating to the same project and concerning properties or rights located in the same town or abutting towns. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 39(b), eff. March 1, 1961; 1967, No. 205, § 2; 1971, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § 213, eff. March 29, 1972; 1979, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 20, eff. Feb. 1, 1981.)