Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 23 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND REGULATED INDUSTRIES (§§ 23-1-101 — 23-119-105) › Subtitle 1 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS (§§ 23-1-101 — 23-19-210) › Chapter 18 - LIGHT, HEAT, AND POWER UTILITIES (§§ 23-18-101 — 23-18-1209) › Subchapter 3 - ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE CORPORATION ACT (§§ 23-18-301 — 23-18-331) › Section 23-18-307 - Powers of corporation

Each corporation shall have power:
(1)
To sue and be sued, complain, and defend in its corporate name;
(2)
To have perpetual succession unless a limited period of duration is stated in its articles of incorporation;
(3)
To adopt a corporate seal which may be altered at pleasure and to use it or a facsimile thereof, as required by law;
(4)
To generate, manufacture, purchase, acquire, accumulate, transmit, distribute, sell, furnish, and dispose of electric power and energy;
(5)
To construct, erect, purchase, lease as lessee, and in any manner acquire, own, hold, maintain, operate, sell, dispose of, lease as lessor, exchange, and mortgage plants, buildings, works, machinery, supplies, equipment, apparatus, and generation, transmission, and distribution facilities or systems as it deems necessary, convenient, or useful;
(6)
To enter into sale or interchange agreements for surplus power and energy with any and all other persons, business entities, or public bodies or agencies. The electric power and energy may be resold at wholesale or retail and may be sold or disposed of by the other party to the agreement as provided in the contract or agreement;
(7)
To assist its members only to wire their premises and install therein electrical and plumbing fixtures, machinery, supplies, apparatus, and equipment of any and all kinds and character. In connection therewith and for such purposes, each such corporation may purchase, acquire, lease, sell, distribute, install, and repair electrical and plumbing fixtures, machinery, supplies, apparatus, and equipment of any and all kinds and character and receive, acquire, endorse, pledge, hypothecate, and dispose of notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness;
(8)
To furnish to other corporations organized under this subchapter, or to the members thereof, electric energy, wiring facilities, and electrical and plumbing equipment and services convenient or useful;
(9)
To acquire, own, hold, use, exercise, and, to the extent permitted by law, to sell, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, and in any manner dispose of franchises, rights, privileges, licenses, rights-of-way, and easements necessary, useful, or appropriate;
(10)
To purchase, receive, lease as lessee, or in any other manner acquire, own, hold, maintain, sell, exchange, and use any and all real and personal property or any interest therein;
(11)
To borrow money and otherwise contract indebtedness, to issue its obligations therefor, and to secure the payment thereof by mortgage, pledge, or deed of trust of all or any of its property, assets, franchises, revenues, or income;
(12)
To sell and convey, mortgage, pledge, lease as lessor, and otherwise dispose of all or any part of its property and assets;
(13)
In connection with the acquisition, construction, improvement, operation, or maintenance of its lines, to use any highway or any right-of-way, easement, or other similar property right, or any tax-forfeited land owned or held by the state or any political subdivison thereof;
(14)
To have and exercise the right of eminent domain for the purpose of acquiring rights-of-way and other properties necessary or useful in the construction or operation of its properties and in the manner now provided by the condemnation laws of this state for acquiring private property for public use;
(15)
To accept gifts or grants of money, services, or property, real or personal;
(16)
To make any and all contracts necessary or convenient for the exercise of the powers granted in this subchapter;
(17)
To fix, regulate, and collect rates, fees, rents, or other charges for electric energy and any other facilities, supplies, equipment, or services furnished by the corporation;
(18)
To conduct its business and have offices within or without this state;
(19)
To elect or appoint officers, agents, and employees of the corporation and to define their duties and fix their compensation;
(20)
To make and alter bylaws, not inconsistent with the articles of incorporation or with the laws of this state, for the administration and regulation of the affairs of the corporation;
(21)
To do and perform, either for itself or its members, or for any other corporation organized under this subchapter, or for the members thereof, any and all acts and things, and to have and exercise any and all powers as may be necessary, convenient, or appropriate to effectuate the purpose for which the corporation is organized;
(22)
(A)
(i)
To indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending, or completed action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative, other than an action by or in the right of the corporation, by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise, against judgments, fines, expenses, including attorney's fees, and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with such action, suit, or proceeding, if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful.
(ii)
The termination of any action, suit, or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interest of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful; and
(B)
A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending, or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise against expenses, including attorney's fees, actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with the defense or settlement of the action or suit if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue, or matter as to which the person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the circuit court or the court in which the action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, the person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses as the circuit court or such other court shall deem proper.
(C)
To the extent that a director, officer, employee, or agent of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit, or proceeding referred to in subdivisions (22)(A) and (B) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue, or matter therein, he or she shall be indemnified against expenses, including attorney's fees, actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection therewith.
(D)
Any indemnification under subdivisions (22)(A) and (B) of this section, unless ordered by a court, shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the director, officer, employee, or agent is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subdivisions (22)(A) and (B) of this section. Such a determination shall be made:
(i)
By the board of directors by a majority vote of a quorum consisting of directors who were not parties to the action, suit, or proceeding;
(ii)
If such a quorum is not obtainable, or, even if obtainable, a quorum of disinterested directors so directs, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion; or
(iii)
By the members.
(E)
Expenses incurred by an officer or director in defending a civil or criminal action, suit, or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of final disposition of such an action, suit, or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the director or officer to repay the amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he or she is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses incurred by other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the board of directors deems appropriate.
(F)
The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by or granted pursuant to the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of members or disinterested directors, or otherwise, both as to action in his or her official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such an office.
(G)
A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise against any liability asserted against him or her and incurred by him or her in any such capacity, or arising out of his or her status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify him or her against such liability under the provisions of this section.
(H)
Unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, the indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee, or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors, and administrators of the person.
(I)
(i)
For purposes of this section, references to:
(a)
"The corporation" shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation and constituent corporation, including any constituent of a constituent, absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the constituent corporation or is or was serving at the request of the constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under the provisions of this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as he or she would have with respect to the constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued;
(b)
"Other enterprises" shall include employee benefit plans;
(c)
"Fines" shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to an employee benefit plan; and
(d)
"Serving at the request of the corporation" shall include any service as a director, officer, employee, or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, the director, officer, employee, or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants, or beneficiaries.
(ii)
A person who acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner "not opposed to the best interests of the corporation" as referred to in this section; and
(23)
To engage in any lawful business activity.
Acts 1937, No. 342, § 4; Pope's Dig., § 2318; Acts 1955, No. 32, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 77-1104; Acts 1989, No. 288, § 1; 1999, No. 1556, §§ 13-15.