Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1319 – A. All system restoration property that is specified in a financing order shall constitute an existing, present property right of the corporation, constituting an individualized, sep
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1319
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Commission: means the Public Service Commission or, solely with respect to an electric or gas utility furnishing electric or natural gas service within the city of New Orleans, the council of the city of New Orleans, as applicable. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Corporation: means the Louisiana Utilities Restoration Corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Financing costs: means any of the following:
(a) Interest and acquisition, defeasance, or redemption premiums that are payable on system restoration bonds. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Financing order: means an order of the commission, if granted by the commission in its sole discretion, which allows for all of the following:
(a) The assessment, imposition, and periodic adjustment of system restoration charges by the corporation and the collection thereof by a utility as an agent on behalf of the corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Financing party: means any holder of system restoration bonds, any party to or beneficiary of an ancillary agreement, and any trustee, collateral agent, or other person acting for the benefit of any of the foregoing. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Issuer: means any Louisiana public corporation, public trust, or other entity that issues system restoration bonds approved by a financing order. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- System restoration bonds: means bonds, notes, certificates of participation, or other evidences of indebtedness that are issued pursuant to this Part by an issuer at the request of the corporation and a utility, and authorized by a financing order, the net proceeds of which are transferred to the corporation and used as provided in this Part, and which are secured by and payable from system restoration property. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- System restoration property: means all of the following:
(a) All rights and interests of the corporation arising out of this Part, including the right to receive system restoration charges billed and collected by the utility on the behalf of the corporation as authorized in the financing order, the right to enforce the obligations of the utility to collect and service the system restoration charges, and the right to obtain periodic adjustments to such charges as provided in the financing order and this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Utility: means an electric utility or a gas utility. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
A. All system restoration property that is specified in a financing order shall constitute an existing, present property right of the corporation, constituting an individualized, separate, incorporeal movable susceptible of ownership, sale, assignment, transfer, pledge, and security interest, including without limitation for purposes of contracts concerning sale of property and pledges of and security interests in property, notwithstanding that the value of such property and the imposition and collection of system restoration charges depend on future acts such as the utility performing its collection agent functions relating to the collection of system restoration charges and on future electricity or gas consumption. Such property shall exist whether or not the revenues or proceeds arising from the property have been billed, have accrued, or have been collected and notwithstanding the fact that the value or amount of such property is or may be dependent on the future provision of service to customers by the utility or its successors or assignees and the future consumption by customers of electricity or gas. System restoration property created by a financing order shall be a vested contract right, and such financing order shall create a contractual obligation of irrevocability by the commission in favor of the corporation and its transferees, including an issuer and financing parties.
B. System restoration property specified in a financing order shall continue to exist until the system restoration bonds issued pursuant to the financing order are paid in full and all financing costs of the bonds have been recovered in full.
C. The system restoration property specified in a financing order may be sold to an issuer by the corporation, or may be pledged to an issuer by the corporation to secure the corporation’s payment to the issuer of monies sufficient to pay the system restoration bonds issued as contemplated by the financing order and financing costs. Each such sale or pledge by the corporation is considered to be a transaction in the ordinary course of business.
D. The utility shall have no ownership or beneficial interest in nor any claim of right in the system restoration property, other than the obligation to collect the system restoration charges as agent of the corporation, issuer, or financing party, as applicable, and transfer those charges to the corporation, issuer, or financing party entitled to receive those charges, all as directed in any financing order.
E. To the extent provided in a financing order, the interest of the corporation or a transferee in system restoration property specified in the financing order is not subject to setoff, counterclaim, surcharge, or defense by the utility or by any customer of the utility, or in connection with a bankruptcy of the utility or any other person.
F. The description of system restoration property being sold or assigned in any sale agreement, purchase agreement, or other transfer agreement, or being pledged or encumbered in any security agreement, pledge agreement, or other security document, is sufficient only if such description refers to the specific financing order that created the system restoration property and states that such agreement covers all or part of such system restoration property described in such financing order. This Subsection applies to all purported sales, assignments, or transfers of, and all purported liens or security interests in, system restoration property, regardless of whether the related sale agreement, purchase agreement, other transfer agreement, security agreement, pledge agreement, or other security document was entered into, or any financing statement was filed, before or after the effective date of this Part.
G. System restoration property shall be an individualized, separate, incorporeal movable susceptible of ownership, sale, assignment, transfer, pledge, and security interest encumbrance, notwithstanding any of the following:
(1) That notice is not given to utility customers that the system restoration property is owned by the corporation or a transferee and that the utility or another entity if applicable is acting as a collection agent for the corporation, issuer, or financing party.
(2) That the system restoration charges are not shown as a separate line item on individual utility bills.
(3) That funds arising from the collection of system restoration charges by the utility as collection agent are commingled with other monies of the utility prior to the utility’s transfer as collection agent of such funds to the corporation, issuer, or financing party.
H. If there is a default on system restoration bonds, upon application by an interested party, and without limiting any other remedies available to the applying party, a court shall order the sequestration and payment of the monies arising from the system restoration property to the person entitled to receive such monies. Any such order shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding any reorganization, bankruptcy, or other insolvency proceedings with respect to the utility or its successors or assignees.
Acts 2007, No. 55, §3, eff. June 18, 2007; Acts 2021, No. 293, §4, eff. June 14, 2021.