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Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 261.010 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
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      261.010 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless otherwise required by the context:

      (1) “Affected territory” means that territory proposed to be formed into, annexed to or consolidated with a district.

      (2) “Board of directors,” “directors” or “board” means the governing body of a people’s utility district, elected and functioning under the provisions of this chapter.

      (3) “County governing body” means either the county court or board of county commissioners and, if the affected territory is composed of portions of two or more counties, the governing body of that county having the greatest portion of the assessed value of all taxable property within the affected territory, as shown by the most recent assessment roll of the counties.

      (4) “Electors’ petition” means a petition addressed to the county governing body and filed with the county clerk, containing the signatures of electors registered in the affected territory, equal to not less than three percent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for Governor within the affected territory at the most recent election at which a candidate for Governor was elected to a full term, setting forth and particularly describing the boundaries of the parcel of territory, separate parcels of territory, city and district, or any of them, referred to therein, and requesting the county governing body to call an election to be held within the boundaries of the parcel of territory, separate parcels of territory, city and district, or any of them, for the formation of a district, the annexation of a parcel of territory or a city to a district, or the consolidation of two or more districts.

      (5) “Electric cooperative” means a cooperative corporation owning and operating an electric distribution system.

      (6) “Initial utility system” means a complete operating utility system, including energy efficiency measures and installations within the district or proposed district, capable of supplying the consumers required to be served by the district at the time of acquisition or construction with all of their existing water or electrical energy needs.

      (7) “Parcel of territory” means a portion of unincorporated territory, or an area in a city comprised of less than the entire city.

      (8) “People’s utility district” or “district” means an incorporated people’s utility district, created under the provisions of this chapter.

      (9) “Replacement value of unreimbursed investment” means original cost new less depreciation of capitalized energy efficiency measures and installations in the premises of customers of an investor owned utility.

      (10) “Separate parcel of territory” means unincorporated territory that is not contiguous to other territory that is a part of a district or that is described in a petition filed with the county clerk in pursuance of the provisions of this chapter, but when a proposed district includes territory in more than one county, the contiguous territory in each such county shall be considered as a separate parcel of territory. When a proposed district includes any area in a city comprised of less than the entire city, that area shall be considered as a separate parcel of territory.

      (11) “Utility” means a plant, works or other property used for development, generation, storage, distribution or transmission of electricity, or development or transmission of water for domestic or municipal purposes, but transmission of water shall not include water for irrigation or reclamation purposes, except as secondary to and when used in conjunction with a hydroelectric plant. [Amended by 1961 c.224 §10; 1979 c.558 §4; 1981 c.804 §76; 1983 c.83 §32; 1989 c.174 §3; 1991 c.358 §1; 2003 c.802 §65; 2005 c.22 §189; 2007 c.301 §30; 2007 c.895 §1]

 

      261.015 [Renumbered 261.121]

 

      261.020 [Repealed by 1973 c.796 §79]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1985–1990 · leading case: Emerald PUD v. PP & L, 729 P.2d 552 (Or. 1986).
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Emerald PUD v. PP & L, 729 P.2d 552 (Or. 1986). “279, § 2, codified at ORS 261.010. The latter definition of a municipality clearly excludes PUDs.”
Emerald People's Util. Dist. v. Pac. Power & Light Co., 711 P.2d 179 (Or. Ct. App. 1985). “Oregon Laws 1931, chapter 279, section 2, defined a PUD to be “an incorporated people’s utility district, created under the provisions of this act.”
Emerald PUD v. PP & L, 711 P.2d 179 (Or. Ct. App. 1985). “Oregon Laws 1931, chapter 279, section 2, defined a PUD to be "an incorporated people's utility district, created under the provisions of this act.”
Emerald People's Util. Dist. v. Pac. Power & Light Co., 729 P.2d 552 (Or. 1986). “” Or Laws 1931, ch 279, § 2, codified at ORS 261.010. The latter definition of a municipality clearly excludes PUDs.”
Morrow Cnty. v. Portland Gen. Elec. Co., 732 P.2d 73 (Or. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 4× “ORS 261.010(10). When the proposed PUD is in more than one county, the “county governing body” is the county court or Board of County Commissioners for the county having the greatest portion of the assessed value of the taxable property within the proposed boundaries.”
Pegar v. Dep't of Revenue, 11 Or. Tax 328 (Or. T.C. 1990). “005 and people’s utility districts as defined in ORS 261.010.” Defendant claims that plaintiffs property does not qualify for exemption because plaintiff does not use the energy produced by the AES on the property.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 261.010(1) — 2 cases
Emerald People's Util. Dist. v. Pac. Power & Light Co., 711 P.2d 179 (Or. Ct. App. 1985). “Oregon Laws 1931, chapter 279, section 2, defined a PUD to be “an incorporated people’s utility district, created under the provisions of this act.”
Emerald PUD v. PP & L, 711 P.2d 179 (Or. Ct. App. 1985). “Oregon Laws 1931, chapter 279, section 2, defined a PUD to be "an incorporated people's utility district, created under the provisions of this act.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 261.010(10) — 1 case
Morrow Cnty. v. Portland Gen. Elec. Co., 732 P.2d 73 (Or. Ct. App. 1987). “ORS 261.010(10). When the proposed PUD is in more than one county, the “county governing body” is the county court or Board of County Commissioners for the county having the greatest portion of the assessed value of the taxable property within the proposed boundaries.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 261.010(11) — 1 case
Morrow Cnty. v. Portland Gen. Elec. Co., 732 P.2d 73 (Or. Ct. App. 1987). “ORS 261.010(10). When the proposed PUD is in more than one county, the “county governing body” is the county court or Board of County Commissioners for the county having the greatest portion of the assessed value of the taxable property within the proposed boundaries.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 261.010(H) — 1 case
Morrow Cnty. v. Portland Gen. Elec. Co., 732 P.2d 73 (Or. Ct. App. 1987). “ORS 261.010(10). When the proposed PUD is in more than one county, the “county governing body” is the county court or Board of County Commissioners for the county having the greatest portion of the assessed value of the taxable property within the proposed boundaries.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.