[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Oneida 5-5-1998
by L.L. No. 5-1998. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The City of Oneida Common Council hereby establishes a public utility
service, to be known as the "Oneida Municipal Power Service" (hereinafter
"Service") pursuant to Article 14-A of the General Municipal Law of the State
of New York. The City of Oneida shall operate, manage and otherwise control
in all respects the Service herein established.
The Service is empowered to exercise any or all of the following powers:
to construct, purchase, lease, own, acquire, use and/or operate any plant
or facilities within or without its territorial limits for the purpose of
furnishing to itself or for compensation to its inhabitants any services similar
to that furnished by any public utility company specified in Article 4 of
the Public Service Law of the State of New York. In furtherance of this purpose,
the Service may purchase electric energy from the state or from any state
agency or other municipal corporation or from any private enterprise or public
corporation.
The proposed method of operation of the Service shall be as follows:
A.
The city on behalf of the Service shall contract for
or otherwise purchase or acquire hydroelectric and/or such other economical
forms of adequate and reliable energy as may be available from the Power Authority
of the State of New York, the State of New York and any state agency, any
other municipal corporation and any private enterprise and public corporation.
B.
The city on behalf of the Service shall use (in accordance
with FERC and PSC regulatory guidelines), lease or acquire the transmission,
substation and distribution facilities and/or rights necessary to furnish
such power to the city and/or for compensation to the inhabitants of the city
and beyond the city. The acquisition of such facilities by condemnation will
not be exercised by the city on behalf of the Service unless specifically
authorized by further local law requiring public referendum.
It is estimated that the purchase of energy and the use, lease or acquisition
of the transmission and distribution facilities and/or rights by the Service
will result in no net cost or net profit to the city. The cost and resultant
rates for furnishing energy to the inhabitants of the city by the Service
shall include all costs associated with the purchase and distribution of energy.
Therefore, the maximum and the estimated cost of the service to be recovered
in full is $0.00.
The method of furnishing the Service of the public utility service of
the City of Oneida shall consist of:
A.
Purchasing and/or acquiring low cost hydroelectric power
and/or such other economical forms of energy as shall be available from sources,
public or private.
B.
Delivering said power to the Service for distribution
and sale to its customers in the city over the transmission facilities of
the Power Authority of the State of New York and the transmission, substation
and distribution facilities of Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., or such other entities
as applicable and available.
C.
Installing requisite metering equipment as necessary
to monitor the flow of energy.
D.
Delivering said power, either directly by the Service
or by others under contract, over the transmission, substation and distribution
facilities leased and/or contracted for, purchased and/or constructed, as
above described for compensation to inhabitants of the city and beyond.
E.
The city on behalf of the Service may contract with the
local public utility companies to deliver said power and collect and remit
to the city the charges thereof.
The method of operation and the rates, rentals and charges for such
service and the procedure for their collection shall be fixed by the Common
Council, in accordance with FERC and PSC regulations.
In accordance with the provisions of the General Municipal Law, this
chapter shall not become effective until submitted at a special election to
be held and called in the manner provided for in General Municipal Law § 360,
and approved by a majority of the votes cast on the question of the approval
or disapproval of this chapter.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Said local law passed at referendum on November 2,
1999.
This chapter and the notice of submission thereof shall be published
in the Oneida Daily Dispatch, the designated official newspaper of the city,
once in each week for six consecutive weeks immediately preceding the special
election stated above.
This chapter shall take effect upon filing with the Secretary of State
and is subject to the above-stated mandatory referendum to be held pursuant
to law.
