                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CONTENTS OF AGREEMENT AS TO JOINT OWNERSHIP OF PROJECT; DESIGNATION OF PARTY TO
AGREEMENT AS AGENT FOR CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF PROJECT;
POWERS AND DUTIES OF AGENT (§ 15.2-5410)

Any agreement between an authority and a unit with respect to the joint
ownership of a project shall provide that each party to the agreement shall own
a percentage of the project equal to the percentage of the money furnished or
the value of property supplied by the respective parties for the acquisition and
construction thereof and shall own and control a like percentage of the output
thereof. The agreement shall further provide that an authority shall be liable
only for its own acts thereunder and that no moneys or other contributions
supplied by an authority shall be applied in any way to the account of any other
party to the agreement. Any such agreement may contain such terms, conditions,
and provisions as the board of directors of an authority shall deem to be in the
best interest of such authority.
		The agreement may include, but shall not be limited to, provisions for the
construction, operation and maintenance of a project by one of the parties
thereto, which shall be designated in or pursuant to such agreement as agent on
behalf of itself and the other parties, or by such other means as may be
determined by the parties and provisions for a uniform method of determining,
and allocating among the parties, costs of construction, operation, maintenance,
renewals, replacements, and improvements with respect to such project. In
carrying out its functions and activities as such agent with respect to the
construction, operation, and maintenance of such a project, including without
limitation the letting of contracts therefor, the agent shall be governed by the
laws and regulations applicable to such agent as a separate legal entity and not
by any laws or regulations which may be applicable to any of the other parties.
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, the authority
may delegate its powers and duties with respect to the construction, operation
and maintenance of such project to such agent, and all actions taken by the
agent in accordance with the provisions of such agreement shall be binding upon
each of the parties without further action or approval by their respective
boards of directors or governing bodies. The agent shall be required to exercise
all such powers and perform its duties and functions under the agreement in a
manner consistent with prudent utility practice.
		As used in this section, &#8220;prudent utility practice&#8221; means any of
the practices, methods, and acts at a particular time which, in the exercise of
reasonable judgment in the light of the facts, including but not limited to the
practices, methods, and acts engaged in or approved by a significant portion of
the electrical utility industry prior thereto, known at the time the decision
was made, would have been expected to accomplish the desired result at the
lowest reasonable cost consistent with reliability, safety and expedition.

HISTORY: 1979, c. 416, § 15.1-1613; 1997, c. 587.