Joint electric power supply project.

In addition to its existing powers, any electric utility, or any organization, association, or separate legal entity whose membership consists only of electric utilities, by participating in an agreement to implement a project, is authorized and empowered to join with any one or more of the following:

(1) Any other electric utility;

(2) Any organization, association, or separate legal entity whose membership consists only of electric utilities;

(3) One or more foreign public utilities; or

(4) Any other person, if the right to full possession and to all of the use, services, output, and capacity of any such project during the original estimated useful life thereof is vested, subject to creditors’ rights, in any one or more electric utilities, in any one or more of any such legal entity, in any one or more foreign public utilities, or in any combination thereof;

for the purpose or purposes of jointly financing, acquiring, constructing, managing, operating, or owning any project or projects. In the implementation of this act, any group of electric utilities may create any organization, association, or separate legal entity whose membership consists only of electric utilities for the accomplishment of the purposes of this act. However, no such organization, association, or separate legal entity may own, operate, or exercise the power of eminent domain with respect to any facilities for the retail distribution of electrical energy.