15.2-5410 - Contents of agreement as to joint ownership of project; designation of party to agreement as agent for construction, operation and maintenance of project; powers and duties of agent.
§ 15.2-5410. Contents of agreement as to joint ownership of project;designation of party to agreement as agent for construction, operation andmaintenance of project; powers and duties of agent.
Any agreement between an authority and a unit with respect to the jointownership of a project shall provide that each party to the agreement shallown a percentage of the project equal to the percentage of the moneyfurnished or the value of property supplied by the respective parties for theacquisition and construction thereof and shall own and control a likepercentage of the output thereof. The agreement shall further provide that anauthority shall be liable only for its own acts thereunder and that no moneysor other contributions supplied by an authority shall be applied in any wayto the account of any other party to the agreement. Any such agreement maycontain such terms, conditions, and provisions as the board of directors ofan authority shall deem to be in the best interest of such authority.
The agreement may include, but shall not be limited to, provisions for theconstruction, operation and maintenance of a project by one of the partiesthereto, which shall be designated in or pursuant to such agreement as agenton behalf of itself and the other parties, or by such other means as may bedetermined by the parties and provisions for a uniform method of determining,and allocating among the parties, costs of construction, operation,maintenance, renewals, replacements, and improvements with respect to suchproject. In carrying out its functions and activities as such agent withrespect to the construction, operation, and maintenance of such a project,including without limitation the letting of contracts therefor, the agentshall be governed by the laws and regulations applicable to such agent as aseparate legal entity and not by any laws or regulations which may beapplicable to any of the other parties. Notwithstanding the provisions of anyother law to the contrary, the authority may delegate its powers and dutieswith respect to the construction, operation and maintenance of such projectto such agent, and all actions taken by the agent in accordance with theprovisions of such agreement shall be binding upon each of the partieswithout further action or approval by their respective boards of directors orgoverning bodies. The agent shall be required to exercise all such powers andperform its duties and functions under the agreement in a manner consistentwith prudent utility practice.
As used in this section, "prudent utility practice" means any of thepractices, methods, and acts at a particular time which, in the exercise ofreasonable judgment in the light of the facts, including but not limited tothe practices, methods, and acts engaged in or approved by a significantportion of the electrical utility industry prior thereto, known at the timethe decision was made, would have been expected to accomplish the desiredresult at the lowest reasonable cost consistent with reliability, safety andexpedition.
(1979, c. 416, § 15.1-1613; 1997, c. 587.)