Title 77, Public Utilities and Carriers

The corporate purpose of the authority is to encourage and promote the fullest possible use of energy by all of the inhabitants of the state by rendering service to said inhabitants, to whom energy is not available or, in the opinion of the board, is not available at reasonable r…

The authority is hereby vested with all powers necessary or requisite for the accomplishment of its corporate purpose and capable of being delegated by the legislature of this state. No enumeration of particular powers granted shall be construed to impair any general grant of pow…

(a) The authority shall have power:(a) To sue and be sued.(b) To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure.(c) To render service to the inhabitants of the state and, by contract or contracts with any person, federal agency or municipality or by its own employees, to acquire, own…

To the extent necessary in the judgment of the board to make effective the powers conferred by this article, the authority shall have the power to acquire, own, operate, maintain and/or improve a generating and/or transmission system or systems outside the State of Mississippi.

The authority shall have power and is hereby authorized from time to time to issue its bonds in anticipation of its revenues, for any corporate purpose. Said bonds may be authorized by resolution or resolutions of the board, and may be issued in one or more series, may bear such …

Said bonds bearing the signature of officers in office on the date of the signing thereof shall be valid and binding obligations notwithstanding that before the delivery thereof and payment therefor any or all the persons whose signatures appear thereon shall have ceased to be of…

(a) The following terms, whenever used in this article, shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:(a) “Authority” shall mean the corporation created by this article.(b) “Board” shall mean the board of directors of the authority…

No holder or holders of any bonds issued under this article shall ever have the right to compel any exercise of the taxing power of the state or of any political subdivision thereof to pay said bonds or the interest thereon. Each bond issued under this article shall recite in sub…

The authority shall not be operated for gain or profit or primarily as a source of revenue to the state. The authority shall, however, prescribe and collect reasonable rates, fees or charges for the services, facilities and commodities made available by it, and shall revise such …

The state does pledge to and agree with the holders of bonds issued by the authority that the state will not limit or alter the rights and powers vested in the authority to fix and collect such rates, fees and charges as may be necessary or advisable in order to produce sufficien…

(a) In connection with the issuance of bonds or in order to secure the payment of its bonds, the authority incorporated under this article shall have power:(a) To pledge all or any part of its revenues.(b) To vest in a trustee or trustees the right to enforce any covenant made to…

In addition to all other rights and all other remedies, any holders of bonds of the authority, including a trustee for bondholders, shall have the right by mandamus or other suit, action or proceeding, at law or in equity, to enforce their rights against the authority and the boa…

All moneys of the authority, from whatever source derived, shall be deposited in one or more banks or trust companies and, if the authority shall so require, each of such accounts shall be continuously secured by a pledge of direct obligations of the United States of America or o…

In the event that the authority shall cease to exist, all of its assets remaining after all of its obligations and liabilities have been satisfied or discharged shall pass to and become the property of the state.

The authority and its property shall be liable for taxes and shall be taxed and assessed in the same manner and to the same extent as a privately owned utility.

All associations or corporations formed and operating under this article are hereby authorized and empowered to construct electric lines on and over all of those lands matured in the State of Mississippi through tax sale, and also on and over unimproved sixteenth sections, and la…

This article is complete in itself and shall be controlling. The provisions of any other law, general, special, or local, except as provided in this article, shall not limit or restrict the powers granted by this article.

A corporation, to be known as the “Mississippi Rural Electrification Authority,” is hereby created as an agency of the state. Said authority shall be a public corporation in perpetuity under its corporate name, and shall under that name be a body politic and corporate.

The authority shall have a board of directors. The powers of the authority shall be vested in and exercised by a majority of the members of the board then in office.

The board shall consist of three members who shall be appointed by the governor of the state, one (1) each from the three (3) supreme court districts of the state. The first appointment of members of the board shall be made by the governor by April 10, 1936. The term of office of…

This article may be cited as “The Power District Law.”

(a) Unless the context otherwise requires:(a) “Power district” or “district” means a power district organized under this article, either as originally organized or as the same may be from time to time altered or amended.(b) “Municipality” means any incorporated city, incorporated…

Power districts, the boundaries of which shall be coterminous with the boundaries of one or more election units, which need not be contiguous, but which shall not be more distant from one another than twenty miles, may be created as hereafter provided in this article, and when so…

The governing bodies of one-half or more of the municipalities, if any, proposed to be included in the district [or, (a) if the proposed district includes only territory not within the corporate limits of any municipality, then the governing body or bodies of the county or counti…

In lieu of the resolutions, or any of them, provided for in the preceding section, a petition or petitions may be presented to the clerk of the board of supervisors of each county in which any part of the proposed district is situated, signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the …

Upon receipt of the certified copies of the resolutions and/or petitions mentioned in the preceding sections, each such board of supervisors shall without delay call an election in each election unit of such county proposed to be included in the district, for the purpose of deter…

The ballots for said election shall be in such form, shall contain such instructions and shall be of such size and color as are required by Chapter 5 of Title 23, Mississippi Code of 1972, except that there shall appear thereon the following: “Shall the ‘(giving the name thereof)…

Each county board of election commissioners, if more than one (1), shall canvass the returns as required by Section 23-5-169, and shall ascertain and declare the result of such election in each election unit separately and shall further ascertain and determine the total number of…

Such board of supervisors shall thereupon promptly cause a certified copy of the order declaring such power district created to be filed in the office of the secretary of state. A certified copy of such order shall also be filed with the clerk of each municipality included in the…

All costs properly incurred by the boards of supervisors and the boards of election commissioners of the respective counties in publishing notice of the election, in employing persons to conduct the same, or in performing other duties imposed by the provisions of this article, sh…

No informality in any proceedings or in the conduct of said election, not substantially affecting adversely the legal rights of any citizen, shall be held to invalidate the creation of any district. Any proceedings wherein the validity of such creation is denied shall be commence…

The boundaries of the subdistricts shall be drawn in such a manner that each shall contain approximately an equal number of voters, except that no municipality shall contain more than two (2) subdistricts, nor shall any municipality be divided unless it shall comprise more than o…

Whenever a district shall, by resolution of its board, determine that it is in the public interest and in the interest of efficient and economical operation of a utility to alter the territorial limits of a district, it shall so order and certified copies of such order shall be f…

Two (2) or more districts may be consolidated by a determination of the board of each district, fixing the terms and conditions of such consolidation. Certified copies of such determination shall be filed with the secretary of state, the clerk of each municipality in the district…

(1) A district shall be considered dissolved:(a) Where, within two (2) years after its creation, it has not become the owner or operator, or commenced construction, of a public utility. Any time consumed in any proceeding or contest before any judicial or other tribunal shall not…

(1) The government of each district shall be vested in a board of five (5) directors. There shall be a director for each subdistrict who shall be appointed by the chief executive or executives of the municipality or municipalities (or municipalities and counties if any unincorpor…

Directors selected from odd numbered subdistricts shall for the first term serve for a period which shall end two (2) years after the first Monday of May of the next even numbered year. Directors selected from even numbered subdistricts shall for the first term serve for a period…

The death of a director, his resignation, his removal for cause by the appointing power, his disability to continue for any cause to act as director, or his change of residence from the district, shall vacate the office. Within twenty (20) days after a determination of the vacanc…

Each director of the district shall receive compensation from the district for his services as such at the rate of not more than ten dollars ($10.00) for each day he shall attend meetings of the board or when he is engaged upon the business of the board, not to exceed the sum of …

The board of directors shall constitute the legislative body of such district and determine all questions of policy.

(a) The board of directors of any district shall have power and authority:(a) To exercise by vote, ordinance or resolution all of the general powers of the district.(b) To make all needful rules, regulations and by-laws for the management and the conduct of the affairs of the dis…

The board shall appoint a general manager, a secretary and a treasurer, and the board may appoint and fix the duties of such other officers as it deems necessary. Such appointees shall hold office during the pleasure of the board, and such appointees shall give such bonds and in …

(1) The general manager shall be the chief executive officer of the district. He shall be chosen by the board of directors solely on the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications and need not, when appointed, be a resident of the state. All other things being equal…

The principal duties of the secretary of the district shall be to act as secretary of the board and to record and sign all minutes of meetings of the board, including all resolutions and ordinances adopted by the board; to safely and systematically keep all records, files and pap…

The principal duties of the treasurer of the district shall be to demand, receive, keep and account for all moneys and credits of the district; to pay to the persons entitled thereto the amounts called for in the orders or warrants drawn upon him by the secretary of the district …