8. The municipal shared services energy authority shall be a public body politic and corporate, established as an instrumentality exercising public and essential governmental functions to provide for the public health and welfare. The authority shall have the duties, privileges, immunities, rights, liabilities, and disabilities of a public body politic and corporate but shall not have taxing power. The authority shall be a “contracting unit” for purposes of the “Local Public Contracts Law,” P.L.1971, c.198 (C. 40A:11-1 et seq.), shall have perpetual succession, and, to meet the electric power or energy needs of its members, shall have the following powers:

a. To adopt and have a common seal and to alter the same at pleasure;

b. To sue and be sued;

c. To acquire, own, rent, hold, lease, as lessor or lessee, use and sell or otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security in, any real or personal property, commodity, or service or interest therein;

d. To hold or place collateral with a counterparty to a wholesale power supply contract and to account for value and use collateral as provided in the power supply contract, notwithstanding any other law or regulation to the contrary;

e. To plan, develop, acquire, construct, reconstruct, operate, manage, dispose of, participate in, maintain, repair, extend, or improve one or more electric supply projects within the corporate limits and franchise areas of the members, and act as agent, or designate one or more other persons participating in an electric supply project to act as its agent, in connection with the planning, acquisition, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, extension, or improvement of the electric supply project for generation, production, transmission, and provision to the members of the authority of electrical power and energy at wholesale, to meet the electric power or energy needs of the members, provided that the authority shall not sell electric power or energy at the retail level;

f. To enter into franchises, exchange, interchange, pooling, wheeling, or transmission agreements with any person, firm, entity, or public agency in order to purchase wholesale electric power and energy for the members, or to sell excess power and energy purchased or produced by the members’ generation assets and not needed to serve the load within the corporate limits and franchise areas of the members, and to negotiate for, and buy fuels necessary for the production of electric power and energy within the corporate limits and franchise areas of the members, to develop bulk power and fuel supply programs, and to implement energy conservation measures within the corporate limits and franchise areas of the members as necessary or appropriate, to meet the electric power or energy needs of its members;

g. To negotiate and enter into power supply contracts pursuant to section 19 of P.L.2015, c.129 (C. 40A:66-19) and to take actions as are necessary to remain in compliance with the terms of those contracts;

h. To make and execute additional contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers;

i. To employ agents and employees;

j. To contract with any person, entity, or public agency within or outside the State of New Jersey for the construction of any electric supply project within the corporate limits and franchise area of its members or for the purchase, sale, or transmission of electric power and energy generated by any electric supply project located within the corporate limits and franchise area of its members, in whole or in part, for the benefit of its members, or for any interest or share therein, or any right to capacity thereof, on terms and for a period of time as its board shall determine, provided that the authority shall not enter into any contract that speculates in the energy markets and the authority shall not construct or contract for the construction of any electric supply project that, when added to the existing authority-owned or co-owned generation assets, will produce more than 105 percent of the power and energy requirements of the members;

k. To purchase and sell, exchange, or transmit electric power and energy at wholesale within and outside the State, consistent with federal law, in amounts as it shall determine to be necessary or appropriate to make the most effective use of its powers and to meet its responsibilities, to sell, exchange, or transmit excess electric power purchased or produced by electric generation facilities within the corporate limits and franchise areas of its members that is not needed to serve the load within those corporate limits and franchise areas;

l. To co-own an electric generating facility project initiated by any person and constructed outside the corporate limits and franchise area of the members, provided that: (1) the share of authority co-ownership shall be restricted to supply the electric and power needs of the members of the authority; and (2) when added to the aggregate of existing authority-owned or member-owned generation facilities together with co-ownership of facilities outside of the corporate limits and franchise areas of the members, the aggregate produces no more than 105 percent of the power and energy needs of the members;

m. To provide for and secure the payment of any bonds and the rights of the holders thereof, and to purchase, hold, and dispose of any bonds;

n. To accept gifts or grants of real or personal property, money, material, labor, or supplies solely for the purposes and exclusive use and benefit of the municipal shared services energy authority, and to make and perform those agreements and contracts as may be necessary or convenient in connection with the procuring, acceptance, or disposition of the gifts or grants;

o. To make and enforce by-laws or rules and regulations for the management and regulation of its business and affairs and for the use, maintenance, and operation of its properties and to amend its by-laws;

p. To do and perform any acts and things authorized by P.L.2015, c.129 (C. 40A:66-1 et al.), through or by means of its own officers, agents, and employees, or by contract with any person;

q. To enter into any and all contracts, execute any and all instruments, and do and perform any and all things or acts necessary, convenient, or desirable for the purposes of the municipal shared services energy authority, or to carry out any power expressly authorized under P.L.2015, c.129 (C. 40A:66-1 et al.);

r. To exercise powers which are granted to municipalities under R.S.40:62-12 et seq.;

s. To join organizations, including private or trade organizations, which the board of commissioners has deemed to be beneficial to the accomplishment of the authority’s purposes;

t. To enter into a power supply contract, lease, operation contract, or contract for management of electric generation within the corporate limits and franchise areas of its members, or for the purchase of fuel for electric generation within the corporate limits and franchise areas of the members, to meet the electric power or energy needs of its members, for a term not to exceed 40 years; and

u. To invest any funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, including the proceeds from the sale of any bonds, in those obligations, securities, and other investments as the authority deems to be proper and as the members of the authority are authorized pursuant to law.

L.2015, c.129, s.8.