Cooperative Electric Associations Governance Requirements

The act:

• Makes current laws concerning governance and transparency for cooperative electric associations (associations) applicable to nonprofit generation and transmission cooperative electric associations that provide wholesale electric service directly to Colorado cooperative electric associations that are its members;
• Eliminates an exemption to those requirements for associations with fewer than 25,000 members;
• Allows an association to authorize, in its bylaws, its members and directors to participate in meetings electronically;
• Allows an association to authorize, in its bylaws, members to vote in an election through a secure and verifiable electronic voting system;
• Clarifies that members voting or participating in a meeting electronically are considered present in person for the purpose of establishing quorum;
• Defines joint memberships and clarifies how joint memberships can vote;
• Amends the deadlines and requirements for notice of an election;
• Requires an association to adopt written policies concerning the compensation of board members and disclosures of conflicts of interest for board members;
• Requires board members to fulfill their duty of loyalty to the cooperative association at all times; except that, if a director serves on the board of both a generation and transmission association and a distribution association, the director owes fiduciary duties to both associations and shall not be required to give priority to the duties the director owes to one association over the duties the director owes to the other association; and
• Requires associations to post on their websites information about their rates and net metering requirements and to make financial audits available to members on request.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)