Section 16REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6038, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES., Sec./Art. 16

Powers. A cooperative is hereby vested with all powers necessary or convenient for the accomplishment of its corporate purpose and capable of being delegated by the President or the National Assembly when it comes into existence; and no enumeration of particular powers hereby granted shall be construed to impair any general grant of power herein contained, nor to limit any such grant to a power or powers of the same class as those so enumerated. Such powers shall include but not be limited to, the power:

(a) To sue and be sued in its corporate name;

(b) To have existence for a period of fifty years;

(c) To adopt a corporate seal and alter the same;

(d) To generate, manufacture, purchase, acquire, accumulate and transmit electric power and energy, and to distribute, sell, supply and dispose of electric energy to persons who are its members and to other persons not in excess of ten per centum of the number of its members; Provided, however, That a cooperative may furnish electric cold storage or processing plant service to non-members without limitation; and Provided, further, That a cooperative which acquires existing electric facilities may continue service from such facilities without requiring such persons to become members, but such persons may become members upon such terms as may be prescribed in the cooperative's by-laws;

(e)To assist persons to whom service is or will be supplied by the cooperative in wiring their premises and in acquiring and installing electrically powered-appliances, equipment, fixtures and machinery for agricultural, commercial and industrial uses by the financing thereof or otherwise, and in connection therewith to wire, or cause to be wired, such premises, and to purchase, acquire, lease as lessor or lessee, sell, distribute, install and repair such electrically-powered appliances, equipment, fixtures and machinery;

(f)To assist persons to whom service is or will be supplied by the cooperative in constructing, equiping, maintaining and operating electric cold storage or processing plants, by the financing thereof or otherwise;

(g)To construct, purchase, lease as lessee, or otherwise acquire, and to equip, maintain, and operate, and to sell, assign, convey, lease as lessor, mortgage, pledge, or otherwise dispose of or encumber, electric transmission and distribution lines or systems, electric generating plants, lands, buildings, structures, dams, plants, and equipment, and any other real or personal property, tangible or intangible, which shall be deemed necessary, convenient or appropriate to accomplish the purpose for which the cooperative is organized;

(h)To purchase, lease as lessee, or otherwise acquire, and to use, and exercise and to sell, assign, convey, mortgage, pledge or otherwise dispose of or encumber franchises, rights, privileges, licenses and easements;

(i)To borrow money and otherwise contract indebtedness, and to issue notes, bonds, and other evidence of indebtedness, and to secure payment thereof by mortgage, pledge, or deed of trust of, or any other encumbrance upon, any or all of its then owned or after-acquired real or personal property, assets, franchises, or revenues; Provided, That any borrowing from, or any encumbering of its properties as security in favor of, any lending sources other than the NEA shall require the prior approval of the NEA Administrator and his certification that such is in furtherance of the purposes and is consistent with the provisions of this Decree, and that such borrowing and/or encumbering will not diminish the security of, or of the ability of the cooperative to repay, any then-outstanding indebtedness of the cooperative to the NEA or any other lending source below the level of such security and ability were such additional borrowing not being undertaken;

(j)To construct, maintain and operate electric transmission and distribution lines along, upon, under and across publicly owned lands and public thoroughfares, including, without limitation, all roads, highways, streets, alleys, bridges and causeways; Provided, That such shall not prevent or unduly impair the primary public uses to which such lands and thoroughfares are otherwise devoted;

(k)To exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner provided by law for the exercise of such power by other corporations constructing or operating electric generating plants and electric transmission and distribution lines or systems;

(l)To become a member of other cooperatives or Corporations or to own stock therein, provided such cooperatives to corporations are engaged in a business or activities germane to or having a reasonable relation to the business or activities of the cooperative, its members, its directors, or its employees;

(m)To conduct its business and exercise its powers within or without the province or provinces in which its supplies service;

(n)To adopt, amend and repeal by-laws;

(o)To fix, maintain, implement and collect rates, fees, rents, tolls, and other charges and terms and conditions for service; Provided, That by appropriate rules and regulations the NEA shall require that such shall be in furtherance of the purposes and in conformity with the provisions of this Decree; and

(p)To do and perform any other acts and things, and to have and exercise any other powers which may be necessary, convenient or appropriate to accomplish the purpose for which the cooperative is organized.