Pacific Power & Light Co. v. Emerald People's Utility District

646 P.2d 1360, 58 Or. App. 21, 1982 Ore. App. LEXIS 3077
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 23, 1982
Docket16-81-00555; 16-81-02216; CA A22550
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 646 P.2d 1360 (Pacific Power & Light Co. v. Emerald People's Utility District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pacific Power & Light Co. v. Emerald People's Utility District, 646 P.2d 1360, 58 Or. App. 21, 1982 Ore. App. LEXIS 3077 (Or. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

BUTTLER, P. J.

This is an appeal from judgments of dismissal after summary judgments were granted for defendants in these two consolidated cases: Pacific Power & Light Company v. Emerald People’s Utility District (the Pacific case), and Carson v. Emerald People’s Utility District (the Carson case). Plaintiffs in both cases challenge the validity of a revenue-bond election held by Emerald People’s Utility District (EPUD) on February 17, 1981, on the grounds that: the election notice did not contain an exact statement of the amount and term of the proposed bonds, contrary to statutory requirements and Supreme Court decisions; and the notice contained a statement of an illegal purpose for the use of the bond proceeds.

The Pacific case was an action for declaratory and injunctive relief, and was commenced before the election. When those plaintiffs’ request to enjoin the election was denied, they filed an amended complaint, after the election, seeking both a declaration that the election was invalid and an injunction to prevent defendants from selling the bonds authorized by the election.

The Carson case was a special proceeding brought under ORS 261.605 to 261.635. It was filed after the election and sought the same relief as the amended complaint in the Pacific case. The two cases were consolidated by order of the court on stipulation of the parties.

In August, 1981, defendants1 moved for, and were granted, summary judgment in both cases, and both cases were dismissed.

FACTS

Plaintiffs in the Pacific case are Pacific Power & Light Company (PPL), a privately owned electric utility company, and William Wrightson, a registered voter and taxpayer who resides within the boundaries of EPUD. Plaintiff in the Carson case, Lawrence Carson, is a registered voter and taxpayer residing within EPUD boundaries.

[24]*24Defendant EPUD is a people’s utility district (PUD) organized in 1978, pursuant to ORS chapter 261, for the primary purpose of providing and distributing electrical energy to consumers within its territory. The individual defendants, other than defendant Penfold, were, at the time these actions were commenced, members of EPUD’s board of directors. EPUD’s territory includes portions of rural Lane County, excluding Eugene and certain smaller municipalities. EPUD owns no electrical or generation facilities; electricity is presently distributed to consumers within its boundaries by PPL.

On December 17, 1980, the EPUD board of directors adopted Resolution No. 80-11. In the preamble to that resolution, the board stated:

«* * * ['pjhe District desires to acquire (by condemnation or otherwise) or construct a utility system, including but not limited to, distribution facilities, generation facilities (including a program for the conservation of energy), transmission facilities, and all other works necessary for the operation of a complete operating utility system; * *

The operative portion of the resolution then went on, in Section II, to

«* * * cau an eiection to be held * * * on the 17th day of February, 1981, * * * for the purpose of submitting to the qualified legal voters of such District the question of authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds as may be appropriate in the future according to the provisions of Chapter 261 and Chapter 255, Oregon Revised Statutes, payable solely from unobligated District revenues, in a sum not to exceed $72,500,000 to mature serially over a period not to exceed 40 years from the issue date.”

Section III of the resolution then set out the purpose of the bonds:

“The purpose of such Electric Revenue Bonds, if authorized, will be to provide funds for the acquisition (including, acquisition by condemnation), construction, installation, and equipping of an electric utility system and necessary extensions and betterments thereto, which may include any or all of, but shall not be limited to, the following: electric utility distribution facilities; electric transmission facilities; electric generation facilities (including a program for the conservation of energy); the [25]*25cost of such acquisition, construction, installation, and equipping; the costs of the initial operations of the District; and the provision of adequate cash reserves for operations, all to the extent authorized by the laws of the State of Oregon.”

The “Bond Election Notice” attached to the resolution stated:

“* * * There will be submitted to the qualified voters [of EPUD] the question of contracting a Revenue Bond indebtedness, payable solely from District revenues, in a sum not to exceed $72,500,000 to mature serially over a period not to exceed 40 years from the issue date * *

The notice went on to state the purpose of the bonds in the same language that appears in the resolution.

Before EPUD called the bond election, it obtained, in accordance with the requirement of ORS 261.355(5), an engineer’s certificate, in the form of a “Final Engineering and Feasibility Report,” that its revenues would be sufficient to make the annual principal and interest payments on the bonds. The report recommended that EPUD “schedule an election to determine if the voters will authorize a $72,500,000 bond issue for the acquisition of properties necessary to the operation of their utility district.” It went on to recommend that EPUD allocate $31,000,000 of the bond issue for the acquisition of 40 percent of PPL’s North Umpqua project. That report apparently provided the basis for the statement of the amount and purpose of the proposed bond issue set out in Resolution No. 80-11 and the accompanying “Bond Election Notice.”

On August 7, 1981, EPUD’s president, Richard Eymann, sent a letter to PPL, which read in its entirety:

“This letter serves as the notice required by ORS 543.610 that the Emerald People’s Utility District will take over and thereafter maintain and operate a portion of the hydroelectric project operated by Pacific Power & Light on the North Umpqua River in Douglas County, Oregon on or after August 7, 1983 upon payment of the fair value of the project as defined in ORS 543.610(1) and ORS 543.010(2).”

[26]*26JURISDICTION

Defendants argue that ORS 261.615 governs this appeal and requires us to render our decision within three months from when the appeal was filed on October 22, 1981; because we did not render our decision within those three months, it is contended that we are now without jurisdiction.

The parties raise, but we need not decide (1) whether either, neither or both consolidated cases are subject to ORS

Related

Circuit Court v. AFSCME, Local 502-A
657 P.2d 1237 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
646 P.2d 1360, 58 Or. App. 21, 1982 Ore. App. LEXIS 3077, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pacific-power-light-co-v-emerald-peoples-utility-district-orctapp-1982.