Citations Affected: IC 8-1.
Synopsis: Withdrawal from IURC jurisdiction. Allows a nonprofit
corporation whose membership includes one or more rural electric
membership corporations to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the
utility regulatory commission (IURC).
Effective: Upon passage.
January 18, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on Utilities and Energy.
February 8, 2005, reported _ Do Pass.
February 14, 2005, read second time, ordered engrossed. Engrossed.
February 15, 2005, read third time, passed. Yeas 94, nays 0.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
utilities and transportation.
commission, the corporation is prohibited from conducting another
referendum concerning withdrawal for eighteen (18) months following
the date of the meeting at which the vote was taken. Parties aggrieved
by the conduct of the referendum must file an action in the circuit or
superior court with jurisdiction in the county where the corporation has
the corporation's principal office to allege noncompliance with this
section not more than thirty (30) days after the date of the vote.
(h) If a corporation withdraws from jurisdiction of the commission,
the corporation's secretary shall not more than five (5) days after the
date of the vote send a verified certification of the vote to the
commission affirming that all the requirements of this section were met
and include all of the following:
(1) The total membership of the corporation.
(2) The total number of members voting in the referendum.
(3) The actual vote, for and against withdrawal.
(i) If a corporation withdraws from the jurisdiction of the
commission, the commission shall continue to exercise jurisdiction
over the corporation only as to the following:
(1) Electric service area assignments under IC 8-1-2.3.
(2) Certificates of public convenience and necessity, certificates
of territorial authority, and indeterminate permits under IC 8-1-2,
IC 8-1-8.5, or IC 8-1-8.7.
(3) Water utility disputes under IC 8-1-2-86.5.
(j) Whenever two (2) or more corporations organized under this
chapter consolidate or merge under section 16 of this chapter, and one
(1) but not all of the corporations has withdrawn from the jurisdiction
of the commission under this section, the consolidated or merged
corporation is under the jurisdiction of the commission until the
consolidated or merged corporation withdraws from jurisdiction of the
commission under this section, unless the agreement for consolidation
or merger approved under section 16 of this chapter includes the
withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the commission under this section.
(k) A board of a corporation that has withdrawn from the
jurisdiction of the commission under this section must conduct a
referendum of the corporation's members to determine whether the
corporation should return to the jurisdiction of the commission upon
receipt of:
(1) a petition for a referendum signed by not less than fifteen
percent (15%) of the corporation's members; or
(2) a resolution ordering a referendum adopted by a majority vote
of the board of directors of the corporation.
Upon receipt of the petition or adoption of the resolution by the board,
the board shall inform the commission of the petition or resolution and
shall thereafter conduct a referendum at the next annual meeting of the
corporation held under section 8 of this chapter, or if the next annual
meeting is more than ninety (90) days after the date the petition was
received or resolution for referendum was adopted by the board, then
at a special meeting called by the board and held not more than ninety
(90) days after receipt of the petition or adoption of the resolution. The
process provided in subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) shall be
followed when conducting a referendum under this subsection, except
the form of the ballots must be as follows:
___ YES. I want the corporation to return to the jurisdiction of the
commission.
___ NO. I want the corporation to remain outside the jurisdiction
of the commission.
If a corporation returns to the jurisdiction of the commission, the
commission shall resume all the jurisdiction it would have if the
corporation had not withdrawn, effective thirty (30) days following the
date the referendum was conducted. If less than a majority of the
members voting at the referendum vote in favor of returning to the
jurisdiction of the commission, a referendum on the question presented
at the referendum may not be conducted for eighteen (18) months
following the date of the vote.