Fla. Stat. § 425.01
Short title
This chapter may be cited as the “Rural Electric Cooperative Law.”
Florida Statutes Chapter 425 — RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES
Florida · statute · Fla. Stat. ch. 425 · 31 active provisions
Fla. Stat. § 425.02
Purpose
Cooperative, nonprofit, membership corporations may be organized under this chapter for the purpose of supplying electric energy and promoting and extending the use thereof in rural areas. Corporations organized under this chapter and corporations which become subject to this chapter in the manner hereinafter provided…
Fla. Stat. § 425.03
Definitions
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Rural area” means any area not included within the boundaries of any incorporated or unincorporated city, town, village, or borough having a population in excess of 2,500 persons;(2) “Person” includes any natural person, firm, association, corporation, busines…
Fla. Stat. § 425.04
Powers
A cooperative shall have all of the following powers:(1) To sue and be sued, in its corporate name.(2) To have perpetual existence.(3) To adopt a corporate seal and alter the same at pleasure.(4) To generate, manufacture, purchase, acquire, accumulate and transmit electric energy, and to distribute, sell, supply, and d…
Fla. Stat. § 425.041
Prohibited fees, bylaws, tariffs, and policies
A cooperative which sells electricity at retail may not adopt, enact, or enforce any fee, including a lot fee, developer fee, or surcharge, or any bylaw, tariff, or policy, that restricts or prohibits or has the effect of restricting or prohibiting:(1) The types or fuel sources of energy production which may be used, d…
Fla. Stat. § 425.045
Meetings of trustees; records
(1) All meetings of any board of trustees of a cooperative organized pursuant to this chapter, or the board of any affiliated company or subsidiary thereof, at which official acts are to be taken, are declared to be meetings open to the membership of such cooperative at all times, and no formal action shall be consider…
Fla. Stat. § 425.05
Name
The name of each cooperative shall include the words “electric” and “cooperative” and the abbreviation “inc.”; provided, however, such limitation shall not apply if, in an affidavit made by the president or vice president of a cooperative and filed with the Department of State, it shall appear that the cooperative desi…
Fla. Stat. § 425.06
Incorporators
Five or more natural persons or two or more cooperatives, may organize a cooperative in the manner hereinafter provided.
Fla. Stat. § 425.07
Articles of incorporation
(1) The articles of incorporation of a cooperative shall recite in the caption that they are executed pursuant to this chapter, shall be signed and acknowledged by each of the incorporators, and shall state:(a) The name of the cooperative;(b) The address of its principal office;(c) The names and addresses of the incorp…
Fla. Stat. § 425.08
Bylaws
The original bylaws of a cooperative, and the first bylaws for a corporation after the effective date of the conversion thereof into a cooperative, pursuant to s. 425.17, shall be adopted by its board of trustees. Thereafter, bylaws shall be adopted, amended or repealed by its members. The bylaws shall set forth the ri…
Fla. Stat. § 425.09
Members
(1) No person who is not an incorporator shall become a member of a cooperative unless such person agrees to use electric energy furnished by the cooperative when such electric energy is available through its facilities. The bylaws of a cooperative may provide that any person, including an incorporator, shall cease to…
Fla. Stat. § 425.10
Board of trustees
(1) The business and affairs of a cooperative shall be managed by a board of not less than five trustees, each of whom shall be a member of the cooperative or of another cooperative which shall be a member thereof. The bylaws shall prescribe the number of trustees, their qualifications, other than those provided for in…
Fla. Stat. § 425.11
Voting districts
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the bylaws may provide that the territory in which a cooperative supplies electric energy to its members shall be divided into two or more voting districts and that, in respect of each such voting district:(1) A designated number of trustees shall be elected by the m…
Fla. Stat. § 425.12
Officers
The officers of a cooperative shall consist of a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, who shall be elected annually by and from the board of trustees. No person shall continue to hold any of the above offices after ceasing to be a trustee. The offices of secretary and of treasurer may be held by the same…
Fla. Stat. § 425.13
Amendment of articles of incorporation
A cooperative may amend its articles of incorporation by complying with the following requirements:(1) The proposed amendment shall first be approved by the board of trustees and shall then be submitted to a vote of the members at any annual or special meeting thereof, the notice of which shall set forth the proposed a…
Fla. Stat. § 425.14
Consolidation
Any two or more cooperatives, each of which is hereinafter designated a “consolidating cooperative,” may consolidate into a new cooperative, hereinafter designated the “new cooperative,” by complying with the following requirements:(1) The proposition for the consolidation of the consolidating cooperatives into the new…
Fla. Stat. § 425.15
Merger
Any one or more cooperatives, each of which is hereinafter designated a “merging cooperative,” may merge into another cooperative, hereinafter designated the “surviving cooperative,” by complying with the following requirements:(1) The proposition for the merger of the merging cooperatives into the surviving cooperativ…
Fla. Stat. § 425.16
Effect of consolidation or merger
The effect of consolidation or merger shall be as follows:(1) The several cooperatives, parties to the consolidation or merger, shall be a single cooperative, which, in the case of a consolidation, shall be the new cooperative provided for in the articles of consolidation, and, in the case of a merger, shall be that co…
Fla. Stat. § 425.17
Conversion of existing corporations
Any corporation organized under the laws of this state for the purpose, among others, of supplying electric energy in rural areas may be converted into a cooperative and become subject to this chapter with the same effect as if originally organized under this chapter by complying with the following requirements:(1) The…
Fla. Stat. § 425.18
Initiative by members
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any proposition embodied in a petition signed by not less than 10 percent of the members of a cooperative, together with any document submitted with such petition to give effect to the proposition, shall be submitted to the members of a cooperative, either at a speci…
Fla. Stat. § 425.19
Dissolution
(1) A cooperative which has not commenced business may dissolve voluntarily by delivering to the Department of State articles of dissolution, executed and acknowledged on behalf of the cooperative by a majority of the incorporators, which shall state:(a) The name of the cooperative;(b) The address of its principal offi…
Fla. Stat. § 425.20
Filing of articles
Articles of incorporation, amendment, consolidation, merger, conversion, or dissolution, as the case may be, when executed and acknowledged and accompanied by such affidavits as may be required by applicable provisions of this chapter, shall be presented to the Department of State for filing in the records of its offic…
Fla. Stat. § 425.21
Refunds to members
Revenues of a cooperative for any fiscal year in excess of the amount thereof necessary:(1) To defray expenses of the cooperative and of the operation and maintenance of its facilities during such fiscal year;(2) To pay interest and principal obligations of the cooperative coming due in such fiscal year;(3) To finance,…
Fla. Stat. § 425.22
Disposition of property
A cooperative may not sell, mortgage, lease or otherwise dispose of or encumber all or any substantial portion of its property unless such sale, mortgage, lease, or other disposition or encumbrance is authorized at a duly held meeting of the members thereof by the affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of all of…
Fla. Stat. § 425.23
Nonliability of members for debts of cooperative
The private property of the members of a cooperative shall be exempt from execution for the debts of the cooperative and no member shall be liable or responsible for any debts of the cooperative.
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