Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1313 – Creation of the Louisiana Utilities Restoration Corporation
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1313
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- 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
- 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
- Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
- 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
- Governing board: means that board of directors of the corporation which is established under Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- State: means the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- 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 costs: means , if requested by the utility, and as may be approved by the commission, those prudent incremental costs incurred or to be incurred by a utility in undertaking a system restoration activity, including associated carrying costs. 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. There is hereby authorized the formation and incorporation of a nonprofit corporation to be known as the “Louisiana Utilities Restoration Corporation”, which shall operate to perform the essential governmental function of financing utility system restoration costs in accordance with this Part. The corporation shall perform only those functions consistent with this Part and shall exercise its powers through its governing board established under La. Rev. Stat. 45:1314 and subject to regulation as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 45:1317. The corporation shall be a public corporation and instrumentality of the state as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 45:1325. The corporation, nevertheless, shall be subject to the Public Records Law, La. Rev. Stat. 44:1 et seq.; the Open Meetings Law, La. Rev. Stat. 42:11 et seq.; the Bond Validation Procedures Law, La. Rev. Stat. 13:5121 et seq.; and the Code of Governmental Ethics, La. Rev. Stat. 42:1101 et seq., except as otherwise provided for in this Section. The corporation shall have a legal existence as a public corporate body separate and distinct from the state of Louisiana.
B.(1) Assets of the corporation shall not be considered part of the general fund of the state or any other fund in the state treasury. The state shall not budget for or provide general fund appropriations to the corporation, and the debts, claims, obligations, and liabilities of the corporation shall not be considered to be a debt of the state or a pledge of its credit. The corporation shall be self-funded. Prior to the imposition of system restoration charges, the corporation may accept and expend for its operating expenses, in accordance with the provisions of this Part, such monies as may be received from any source, including financing agreements with the state, a commercial bank, or a utility to finance the corporation’s operations until the corporation receives sufficient system restoration property to cover its operating expenses as financing costs, and to repay any short-term borrowing under any such financing agreement.
(2) The corporation shall be prohibited from making charitable contributions or contributions to any political party, political organization, public official, or candidate for public office, whether federal, state, or local in nature.
(3) All compensated employees of the corporation, if any, shall be subject to the provisions of La. Const. Art. X, § 9 , as if they were employees of the state, except members of the governing board of the corporation.
C.(1) Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, the corporation shall be subject to La. Rev. Stat. 42:11 et seq. and to La. Rev. Stat. 44:1 through 41, and may be considered as if it were a public body for the purpose of those provisions.
(2) The corporation may hold an executive session pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 42:6 for discussion of one or more of the following, and La. Rev. Stat. 44:1 through 41 shall not apply to any documentary materials as enumerated in La. Rev. Stat. 44:1(A)(2) which relate to any of the following:
(a) Records obtained or generated by an internal auditor pursuant to a routine audit, until the audit is completed or, if the audit is conducted as part of an investigation, until the investigation is closed or ceases to be active. An investigation is considered “active” while the investigation is being conducted with a reasonable, good faith belief that it could lead to the filing of administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings.
(b) Matters reasonably encompassed in privileged attorney-client communications.
(c) Information relating to negotiations for financing or contractual services or transactions, until the conclusion of the negotiations, including without limitation information concerning the potential pricing and marketing of system restoration bonds.
(d) Residential and other utility customer information. The corporation shall fully protect the confidentiality of any customer information provided to it by a utility.
D. The corporation shall be subject to examination by the legislative auditor.
E. The corporation shall be domiciled in the parish of East Baton Rouge.
F. The corporation, as an instrumentality of the state, shall be exempt from Louisiana corporate income taxes and corporation franchise taxes.
G. The corporation shall have the powers, rights, and privileges provided for a corporation organized under the Nonprofit Corporation Law, La. Rev. Stat. 12:201 et seq., subject to the express exceptions and limitations set forth in this Part.
H. An incorporator selected by the secretary of the Public Service Commission shall prepare the articles of incorporation of the corporation under the Nonprofit Corporation Law, La. Rev. Stat. 12:201 et seq., which articles shall be consistent with the provisions of this Part. Notwithstanding any provisions of the Nonprofit Corporation Law, La. Rev. Stat. 12:201 et seq., to the contrary, the articles shall not be required to set forth the names, addresses, and terms of office of the initial directors. The failure to include the initial directors shall not invalidate nor cause the secretary of state to reject the articles.
I. The staff of the Public Service Commission may serve as staff to the corporation under the supervision of the secretary of the Public Service Commission.
J. State officers, departments, and agencies are authorized to render support and services to the corporation within their respective functions, as may be requested by the corporation.
K. The corporation may retain such professionals, financial advisors, and accountants as it may deem necessary to carry out its duties under this Part and may determine their duties and compensation, subject to the approval of the Public Service Commission.
Acts 2007, No. 55, §3, eff. June 18, 2007; Acts 2021, No. 293, §4, eff. June 14, 2021.