Section 224 - Regulations governing exempt electric cooperativesNotwithstanding any electric cooperative's election to exempt itself from the regulatory authority of the Commission under § 223 of this title, during any such period of exemption:
(1) Such cooperative shall remain subject to the Restructuring Plan approved by the Commission pursuant to § 1005(b) of this title until April 1, 2005, except as provided in paragraph (9)e. of this section, and subject to modification by the Commission upon application by the cooperative. Effective April 1, 2005, the governing body of the cooperative shall have full power and authority to revise such Restructuring Plan, subject only to the provisions of paragraphs (2) through (10) of this section.(2) Such cooperative shall remain subject to the Commission's jurisdiction and regulatory authority as necessary to implement §§ 203A, 203B and 204 of this title.(3) Whenever such cooperative is a subject of or participant in any investigation or proceeding which the Commission is authorized to conduct under this section, the cooperative shall be charged with and pay such portion of the expenses of the Commission as is reasonably attributable to such investigation or proceeding in accordance with § 114 of this title. (4) Such cooperative shall make available to its members the following reports: a. Rate schedules, tariffs, and terms and conditions of service, and all amendments thereto;b. Financial and statistical information regarding gross intrastate operating revenues, revenues per rate class, number of members and number of meters per rate class;c. Data and information concerning load management, energy conservation, and similar programs;d. Information concerning ongoing consumer education programs; ande. Information concerning the cooperative's performance (income statements, balance sheets, reliability data, etc.).(5) Such cooperative shall remain subject to § 117 of this title and shall continue to abide by § 303(a) of this title.(6) No such cooperative shall increase or decrease any of its rates or charges for electric distribution service or electric supply service for "default" customers under paragraph (9)f. of this section unless:a. It provides notice of such proposed action to the members as provided in paragraph (7) of this section;b. It allows the members to attend those portions of the meeting of the governing body during which such proposed action is to be publicly voted upon; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the governing body's right to go into executive session, closed to members, to discuss pending or potential litigation, confidential proprietary information the disclosure of which could be detrimental to the cooperative's financial interests or which could negatively impact on its ability to conduct business in a competitive environment, or to consult with legal counsel; c. It allows the members a reasonable opportunity to address the governing body at such meeting prior to a final decision being made on such proposed action.d. The applicable rates and charges for electric distribution service are, within each service classification, the same without regard to the customer's electric supply service provider.(7) Such cooperative shall provide notice of all regular meetings of its governing body in its newsletters or as part of the monthly billing statement, and by posting on its website, if any. Notice of special meetings shall be posted on the cooperative's website, if any, or published (double-column, bordered in black) in 2 newspapers of general circulation in the cooperative's service territory at least 24 hours in advance of such meeting. Such notice shall include a statement that copies of the updated agenda for such meetings will be posted on the cooperative's website, if any, and available at the offices of the cooperative during normal business hours until the time of the meeting; provided, however, anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding, failure to provide notice or an updated agenda as required herein due to impossibility, impracticality or inadvertence shall not invalidate the meeting or any action taken thereat.(8) Unless such cooperative has implemented a restructuring plan that provides for retail competition in its Delaware service territory, such electric cooperative may not use the transmission or distribution facilities of a nonaffiliated electric utility to make sales to customers in such nonaffiliated electrical utility's Delaware service territory; nor shall such electric cooperative own or receive, directly or indirectly, any economic interest in any entity which uses the transmission or distribution facilities of a nonaffiliated electric utility to make sales to customers in such non-affiliated electrical utility's Delaware service territory.(9) In the event such cooperative has implemented a restructuring plan that provides for retail competition in its Delaware service territory, such electric cooperative: a. Shall remain subject to the Commission's jurisdiction and regulatory authority as necessary to implement § 1012 of this title (certification of "electric suppliers").b. Shall implement procedures to require all electric suppliers to deliver energy to the cooperative at locations and in amounts which are adequate to meet each electric supplier's obligations to its customers.c. Shall be governed by § 1011(b) of this title with regard to metering and billing for customers in the cooperative's service territory.d. Shall implement and maintain such procedures, processes and protocols (including all personnel, facilities and equipment) as reasonable and necessary to provide direct access (as defined in § 1001 of this title) to electric suppliers and their customers.e. Shall, until March 31, 2005, maintain rates and charges that do not exceed those rates and charges previously established by the Commission pursuant to § 1006(b)(1) of this title, subject to the cooperative's right to petition the Commission for authority to change those rates in order to recover extraordinary costs pursuant to § 1006(b)(1) and (b)(2) of this title, and subject also to the right of such cooperative, without Commission approval: (i) to revise any individual rate(s) or charge(s) at any time provided that such rate(s) or charge(s) does/do not exceed those established by the Commission pursuant to § 1006(b)(1) of this title; and/or (ii) to increase rates and charges above those previously established by the Commission, if (and only if) necessary, because of increases in the cooperative's wholesale power cost, for the cooperative to maintain the minimum 1.5 TIER ("Times Interest Earned Ratio") and Debt Service Coverage lending requirements established by the Rural Utility Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.f. Shall have the obligation to provide electric supply service, in accordance with the cooperative's published rate schedules, terms and conditions of service to all customers within its Commission-designated territory who:1. Have no choice regarding electric suppliers;2. Do not choose another electric supplier; or3. Have contracted for electric supply service that is not delivered(10) Such cooperative may adopt procedures to hear, decide and address, in a prompt and fair manner, complaints from its members, electric suppliers or suppliers of other competitive services. For purposes of this subsection, "other competitive services" shall mean any service or product provided for a fee by the cooperative to members or customers other than electric supply service, electric distribution service, metering and billing, or "ancillary services," as defined in § 1001 of this title. Such procedures may provide for both informal and formal complaint proceedings. A formal complaint proceeding shall include, at a minimum, the right to present a complaint in writing, the right to have such complaint heard by the chief executive officer of the cooperative (or the chief executive officer's designee), the right to a written response setting forth the reasons for any decision, and the right to have the complaint and response reviewed by the board of directors of the cooperative. A member, electric supplier or other supplier of competitive services may, but is not required to, utilize such informal or formal complaint procedures adopted by the cooperative and may, at any time, pursue any other remedy available under law. A determination made in the informal or formal complaint process shall be binding on the cooperative. A member, electric supplier, or supplier of other competitive services may agree to accept a determination made in the informal or formal complaint process but may reject such determination and pursue any other remedy available under law. 73 Del. Laws, c. 157, § 2; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 76 Del. Laws, c. 200, § 1.;