§ 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.)