As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context and any use of plural terms herein shall be deemed to refer to the singular thereof:

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(1) “Area of operation” means the geographic area served by a municipal electric utility at the time it becomes a member of a municipal electric energy cooperative pursuant to this chapter and such other areas as the municipal electric energy cooperative may serve pursuant to contract entered into under the provisions of this chapter;

(2) “Bonds” means bonds issued by a municipal electric energy cooperative pursuant to this chapter;

(3) “Cost” means, in addition to the usual connotations thereof, the cost of all or any property, rights, easements, privileges, agreements and franchises deemed by the municipal electric energy cooperative to be necessary or useful and convenient to a project or projects or in connection therewith, including discount on bonds, cost of issuance of bonds, engineering and inspection costs and legal expenses, cost of financial, professional and other estimates advice, organization, administrative, operating and other expenses of the municipal electric energy cooperative prior to and during the acquisition or construction of a project or projects and all such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the financing, acquisition, construction and completion of said project or projects or part thereof and the placing of the same in operation, and also such provision or reserves for working capital, operating, maintenance or replacement expenses or for reserves for the payment of the principal of or interest on bonds during or after such acquisition or construction as the municipal electric energy cooperative may determine, and reimbursements to the municipal electric energy cooperative or any member thereof or any other participant in such project or projects of any moneys theretofore expended for the purposes of the municipal electric energy cooperative;

(4) “Electric utility” means any electric public service company, as defined in section 16-1;

(5) “Governing body” means the board of commissioners of a municipal electric utility or such other duly elected or appointed officials charged by law with managing the affairs of a municipal electric utility;

(6) “Member” means any municipal electric utility within the state which has been in continuous operation for at least five years and whose governing body authorizes membership in, and which becomes a member of, a municipal electric energy cooperative;

(7) “Municipal electric energy cooperative” or “municipal cooperative” means a separate legal entity hereafter created by concurrent resolutions of two or more municipal electric utilities to exercise any of the powers as provided in this chapter in connection with the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, operation, repair, extension or improvement of electric power generation or transmission facilities, or the acquisition of any interest therein or of any capacity thereof;

(8) “Municipal electric utility” means an electric department, agency or other body of a municipality which provides for the production, supply and/or distribution of electric energy to the inhabitants or any portion thereof as well as others, which department, agency or other body has been established in accordance with applicable provisions of law;

(9) “Municipality” means any town, city or borough located within the state and any district as defined in section 7-324 or special services district established under chapter 105a which is authorized to produce, supply or distribute electric energy;

(10) “Notes” means notes issued by a municipal electric energy cooperative pursuant to this chapter;

(11) “Participant” means any member of a municipal electric energy cooperative, a nonmember municipal electric utility, an electric utility, or any other public or private electric power entity located within or without the state, any of which may contract for services with a municipal electric energy cooperative pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;

(12) “Project” means any plant or plants, hydro plants, works, system, facilities, or real or personal property, together with all parts thereof and appurtenances thereto, used or useful in connection with the generation, production, transmission, purchase, sale, exchange or interchange of electric power or energy, or any interest therein or right to capacity thereof. “Project” also includes stock or other ownership interests in, or evidences of indebtedness of, any corporation or business entity which constructs electric power generation or transmission facilities or generates, produces, transmits, purchases, sells or exchanges electric power and energy to, or insures the liabilities of, public or private electric power entities located within or without the state, provided the outstanding stock of such corporation is owned in whole or in part by such public or private electric power entities;

(13) “Real property” includes lands, structures, franchises, and interests in land, including lands under water and riparian rights, and any and all things and rights usually included within said term, and includes not only fees simple absolute but also any and all lesser interests, such as easements, rights-of-way, uses, leases, licenses and all other incorporeal hereditaments, and every estate, interest or right, legal or equitable, including terms of years and liens thereon by way of judgments, mortgages or otherwise, and also claims for damage to real estate.