Declaration of purpose; authority created

It is the intent of the legislature by passage of this Chapter to provide for the creation of a state electric power authority and to that end there is hereby created the Louisiana Energy and Power Authority, hereinafter referred to as the "Authority", as a political subdivision of the State of Louisiana with full corporate powers, to provide facilities for the generation and/or transmission of electric power and energy, and to vest the Authority with all powers that may be necessary to enable it to accomplish such purposes, which powers shall be exercised for the benefit of participating municipalities. It is further the intention of the legislature that in order to achieve the economies and efficiencies made possible by the proper planning, financing, sizing and location of facilities for the generation or transmission of electric power and energy which may not be practical for any municipality acting alone, and to insure an adequate, reliable and economical supply of electric power and energy to the participating municipalities, the Authority shall be authorized to jointly cooperate and to plan, finance, develop, own and operate with municipalities and investor owned electric power companies and electric power cooperative associations or corporations, within the state, electric generation and transmission facilities in order to provide for the present and future requirements of the Authority and participating municipalities.