1. This section authorizing service area agreements is intended to encourage harmony and operational efficiency among electric providers, promote safety, discourage unreasonable duplication of electric facilities, assure adequate and reliable electric service for all consumers and territories within the state, and provide antitrust immunity to electric providers that negotiate service area agreements in accordance with this section. 2. An electric provider may enter into agreements with other electric providers having adjacent or intermingled electric supply facilities for the purpose of establishing service areas and designating the service locations to be served by each electric provider. The designated service locations may include all or any portion of the service locations within a service area that are being served by the electric providers at the time of the agreement, or that could be economically served by the then existing facilities of the electric providers, or by reasonable and economic extensions of such existing facilities. The service area agreement must provide that it is subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the commission to settle all service location disputes between the contracting electric providers arising under the agreement. 3. Electric providers may enter into written agreements for the sale, transfer, exchange, or lease of equipment or facilities used to serve the areas that are the subject of a service area agreement. Any sale, exchange, transfer, or lease of equipment, plant, or facilities made under this subsection is subject to sections 49-04-05 and 10-13-08.1. 4. A service area agreement shall be promptly filed with the commission which must issue a notice of the filing within thirty days. Upon the commission's order, or if an affected electric consumer or electric provider requests a hearing within twenty days of the notice, the commission shall hold a hearing on the service area agreement. 5. The public service commission shall approve or disapprove a service area agreement. The commission may not revise a service area agreement except by mutual consent of the parties to the agreement. 6. A service area agreement shall be valid and enforceable if the commission, after notice as provided in subsection 4, approves the agreement and finds that the agreement complies with this section and is in the public interest. 7. Upon approval of a service area agreement, the commission shall issue its order and any necessary certificates of public convenience and necessity authorizing an electric public utility to extend its plant and system and to provide electric service to service locations within the service areas. 8. The governing board of a city may require approval or disapproval of a service area agreement between electric providers to the extent the agreement encompasses service locations within the city. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the authority of a governing board of a city to exercise its franchise authority under section 40-05-01.
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