Exhibit 3.4
This composite Company Agreement of Entergy New Orleans, LLC (the “Company”) reflects the provisions of the Company’s Company Agreement effective as of July 18, 2017 and all amendments thereto effective on or prior to December 1, 2017, but it is not an amendment and/or restatement thereof.
COMPANY AGREEMENT OF
ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS, LLC
A TEXAS LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
effective as of July 18, 2017
COMPANY AGREEMENT OF ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS, LLC
A TEXAS LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1.
DEFINITIONS
1
2.
ORGANIZATION
2
2.1.
Formation.
2
2.2.
Name.
2
2.3.
Principal Place of Business.
2
2.4.
Term.
2
2.5.
Purposes.
2
2.6.
Independent Activities of Directors, Members and Officers.
2
2.7.
Contracts or Transactions Involving Interested Governing Persons or Officers.
3
2.8.
Statutory Requirements.
3
3.
CAPITAL
3
3.1.
Units.
3
3.2.
Registered Holders as Owners.
4
3.3.
Record Dates.
4
3.4.
Capital Contributions, Units, Ownership Percentage.
5
3.5.
Additional Contributions; Acquisition of Additional Units.
5
3.6.
Liability of Members.
6
3.7.
No Preemptive Rights.
6
4.
ALLOCATION OF INCOME, GAINS, AND LOSSES
6
5.
election related to tax status.
6
5.1.
Election to Change Tax Status.
6
6.
COMPANY PROPERTY
6
6.1.
Company Property.
6
7.
DISTRIBUTIONS
7
7.1.
In General.
7
7.2.
Distributions on Termination of the Company.
7
7.3.
Incorrect Payments.
7
7.4.
Other Matters.
7
7.5.
Amounts Withheld.
7
8.
ACCOUNTING AND TAX MATTERS
8
8.1.
Fiscal Year.
8
8.2.
Method of Accounting.
8
8.3.
Tax Returns.
8
9.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS; Officers
8
9.1.
Powers.
8
9.2.
Restriction of
Powers.
8
9.3.
Number; Qualifications.
8
9.4.
Election and Removal.
9
9.5.
Extent of Directors’ Obligations.
9
9.6.
Liability of Directors.
9
9.7.
Duties of Directors.
9
9.8.
Advisory Directors.
9
9.9.
Officers.
10
10.
INDEMNIFICATION
12
10.1.
Power to Indemnify in Actions, Suits or Proceedings other than those by or in the Right of the Company.
12
10.2.
Power to Indemnify in Actions, Suits or Proceedings by or in the Right of the Company.
13
10.3.
Authorization of Indemnification.
14
10.4.
Good Faith Defined.
14
10.5.
Indemnification by a Court.
15
10.6.
Expenses Payable in Advance.
15
10.7.
Nonexclusivity of Indemnification and Advancement of Expenses.
15
10.8.
Insurance.
16
10.9.
Certain Definitions.
16
10.10.
Survival of Indemnification and Advancement of Expenses.
16
10.11.
Limitation on Indemnification.
17
10.12.
Indemnification of Advisory Directors, Employees and Agents.
17
10.13.
Repeal or Modification.
17
10.14.
Separability.
17
11.
MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND MEMBERS
17
11.1.
Place.
17
11.2.
First Meeting of Board of Directors.
18
11.3.
Regular Meetings.
18
11.4.
Special Meetings.
18
11.5.
Notice and Waiver of Notice.
18
11.6.
Quorum of Directors, Acts of Board of Directors.
18
11.7.
Committees.
19
11.8.
Delegation.
19
11.9.
Meetings of Members.
19
11.10.
Action Without Meetings.
20
12.
ADMISSION and withdrawal OF MEMBERS; TRANSFERS OF INTERESts.
20
12.1.
Units Acquired Directly From The Company.
20
12.2.
Right of Transferee to Become a Member.
20
12.3.
Withdrawal by a Member.
20
13.
DISSOLUTION AND TERMINATION
20
13.1.
Causes of Dissolution.
20
13.2.
Winding Up.
21
14.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
22
14.1.
Confidentiality of Company Records.
22
14.2.
Applicable Law.
22
14.3.
Binding Agreement.
22
14.4.
Notices.
22
14.5.
Variation of Pronouns.
23
14.6.
Headings.
23
14.7.
Entire Agreement.
23
14.8.
Severability.
24
14.9.
Incorporation by Reference.
24
14.10.
Further Action.
24
14.11.
Waiver of Partition.
24
14.12.
Amendments.
24
14.13.
Waivers.
24
14.14.
Counterparts.
24
COMPANY AGREEMENT OF
ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS, LLC
A TEXAS LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
This
Company Agreement
of
ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS, LLC
(the “
Agreement
”) is executed as of July 18, 2017 to be effective as of the date and upon such time on which the Certificate of Formation is filed with and accepted by the Texas Secretary of State (the “
Effective Date
”) among the Board of Directors and the Persons listed on
Exhibit A
as the Members for the purpose of organizing a Texas limited liability company on the terms and conditions set forth in the Certificate of Formation and in this Agreement.
Subject to additional definitions contained in subsequent Articles of this Agreement which are applicable to specific Articles or Sections thereof, capitalized terms used in this Agreement have the meanings set forth below:
|
|
1.1
|
“
Act
”
means the Texas Business Organizations Code, and any successor statute, as amended from time to time.
|
|
|
1.2
|
“
Advisory Directors
”
shall have the meaning given to that term in Section 9.8.
|
|
|
1.3
|
“
Agreement
”
means this company agreement, as amended from time to time.
|
|
|
1.4
|
“
Certificate of Formation
”
means the Certificate of Formation filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Texas pursuant to Section 3.005 of the Act, as amended and restated from time to time.
|
|
|
1.5
|
“
Code
”
means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and any successor statute, as amended from time to time.
|
|
|
1.6
|
“
Company
”
means the limited liability company formed under the Act pursuant to the Certificate of Formation and this Agreement.
|
|
|
1.7
|
“
Delegate
”
shall have the meaning given to that term in Section 10.1.
|
|
|
1.8
|
“
Director
”
means each Person designated or elected from time to time in accordance with this Agreement as a director of the Company. A Director shall be considered to be a “manager” of the Company as that term is used in the Act.
|
|
|
1.9
|
“
Majority in Interest of the Members
”
at any time means Members holding Units entitled to vote on the matter in question whose voting rights have not been suspended or terminated and whose aggregate percentage ownership of Units exceed 50%.
|
|
|
1.10
|
“
Members
”
means those Persons listed on
Exhibit A
attached hereto and made a part hereof and such other Persons as may become Members from time to time in accordance with this Agreement.
|
|
|
1.11
|
“
Person
” or “
person
”
means any individual, partnership, corporation, trust, governmental unit, or other entity.
|
|
|
1.12
|
“
Regulations
”
means the Income Tax Regulations, including Temporary Regulations, promulgated under the Code, as such regulations may be amended from time to time (including corresponding provisions of succeeding regulations).
|
|
|
1.13
|
“
Units
”
shall have the meaning given to that term in Section 3.1.
|
The parties to the Agreement hereby form a limited liability company to be governed by the Certificate of Formation, by this Agreement, and by the Act.
The name of the Company shall be Entergy New Orleans, LLC; provided, however, that (a) the Company’s business may be conducted under one or more assumed names deemed advisable by the Board of Directors, and (b) the Board of Directors in their sole discretion may change the name of the Company at any time and from time to time, and may amend the Company Agreement and make any necessary filings to effectuate such name change without the consent of the Members.
|
|
2.3
|
Principal Place of Business.
|
The principal place of business of the Company shall be at 1600 Perdido Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 or at such location within or without the State of Louisiana as may be determined by the Board of Directors.
The term of the Company shall commence when the Certificate of Formation is filed with the Texas Secretary of State and shall continue until the Company is terminated under Article 13 of this Agreement.
The Company is organized for the transaction of any and all lawful purposes for which a limited liability company may be organized under the Act.
|
|
2.6
|
Independent Activities of Directors, Members and Officers.
|
Except as otherwise agreed in writing or as arising out of an employment or other relationship outside of this Agreement, the Members, directly or through their respective affiliates, Directors and Officers (as defined below) may, notwithstanding this Agreement, engage in whatever activities they choose, whether or not those activities are competitive with those of the Company, without having or incurring any obligation to offer any interest in such activities to the Company or any Member.
|
|
2.7
|
Contracts or Transactions Involving Interested Governing Persons or Officers.
|
Without limitation of any other law or principle that validates interested party transactions, a contract or transaction between the Company and a Person described in Section 101.255 of the Act is presumed fair to the Company when authorized, approved or ratified by the Board of Directors or a responsible Officer if such contract or transaction (a) has been authorized or approved by, or is subject to the authorization or approval of, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“
FERC
”), the New Orleans City Council, or any other retail regulator or commission with jurisdiction over the Company, such Person, the contract or transaction (each a “
Governmental Authority
”), (b) is pursuant to or in compliance with any order of a Governmental Authority, or (c) is pursuant to a FERC-approved tariff such as the tariff of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. regional transmission organization. The fact that any Governmental Authority shall subsequently deny recovery of any cost or expense under or related to any such contract or transaction in the Company’s rates or determine that such cost or expense was not prudently incurred shall not alter the presumption that such contract or transaction was fair to the Company when authorized, approved or ratified.
|
|
2.8
|
Statutory Requirements.
|
The Company’s organizer has caused the Certificate of Formation to be executed and filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Texas. Except as permitted in Section 2.2, the Board of Directors may file a Certificate of Amendment to the original Certificate of Formation and any other certificates of amendment as may be authorized by a vote of a Majority in Interest of the Members.
Membership interests in the Company shall be designated as Units (“
Units
”). There shall be one class of Units referred to as Common Units. The Company is authorized to issue a total of one thousand (1,000) Common Units. The Company may issue to its Members certificates representing the Units owned by each Member. Such certificates shall be signed on behalf of the Company by the President or a Vice President of the Company and by the Treasurer or an Assistant Treasurer or the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the Company, certifying the number of Units owned by each Member. The certificates shall be consecutively numbered and shall be entered in the books of the Company or the records of a registrar or transfer agent, if the Company elects to retain the services of a registrar or transfer agent, as they are issued. If any Officer of the Company shall have ceased to be such Officer before such certificate is issued, it may be issued by the Company with the same effect as if he or she were such Officer at the date of issue.
Each Unit and the related membership interest will constitute a “security” within the meaning of, and governed by, Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code (including Section 8.103 thereof) as in effect from time to time in the State of Texas (the “
UCC
”). Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, to the extent that any provision of this Agreement is inconsistent with any non-waivable provision of Article 8 of the UCC as in effect in the State of Texas, such provision of Article 8 of the UCC shall control.
The Board of Directors or any Officer authorized by the Board of Directors for such purposes may direct a new certificate to be issued in place of any certificate theretofore issued by the Company alleged to have been lost, stolen, or destroyed upon the making of an affidavit of that fact by the person claiming the certificate to be lost, stolen, or destroyed. When authorizing such
issue of a new certificate, the Board of Directors or such authorized Officer may, in his or her discretion and as a condition precedent to the issuance thereof, prescribe such terms and conditions as they, he or she deems expedient and may require such indemnities as they, he or she deems adequate to protect the Company from any claim that may be made against it with respect to any such certificate alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed.
Units shall be transferable only on the books of the Company by the holder thereof in person or by his or her duly authorized attorney. Upon surrender to the Company or the transfer agent of the Company of a certificate for Units duly endorsed or accompanied by proper evidence of succession, assignment, or authority to transfer, a new certificate shall be issued to the person entitled thereto and the old certificate cancelled and the transaction recorded upon the books of the Company.
|
|
3.2
|
Registered Holders as Owners.
|
|
|
3.2.1
|
The Company may regard the person in whose name any Units issued by the Company are registered in the transfer records of the Company at any particular time as the owner of those Units at that time for purposes of voting those Units, receiving distributions thereon or notices in respect thereof, transferring those Units, exercising rights relating thereto, or giving proxies with respect thereto; and
|
|
|
3.2.2
|
Neither the Company nor any of its Officers, Directors, employees, or agents shall be liable for regarding that person as the owner of those Units at that time for those purposes, regardless of whether that person possesses a certificate for those Units.
|
For the purpose of determining Members entitled to notice of or to vote at any meeting of Members or any adjournment thereof, or entitled to receive a distribution by the Company, or in order to make a determination of Members for any other purpose (other than determining Members entitled to consent to action by Members proposed to be taken without a meeting of Members), the Board of Directors may provide that the transfer records shall be closed for a stated period, not to exceed, in any case, sixty (60) days. If the transfer records shall be closed for the purpose of determining Members entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of Members, such records shall be closed for at least ten (10) days immediately preceding such meeting. In lieu of closing the transfer records, the Board of Directors may fix in advance a date as the record date for any such determination of Members, such date in any case to be not more than sixty (60) days and, in the case of a meeting of Members, not less than ten (10) days, prior to the date on which the particular action requiring such determination of Members is to be taken. With respect to any record date, the record ownership of Units as of such date shall be determined as of the opening of business on such date. If the transfer records are not closed and no record date is fixed for the determination of Members entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of Members, or Members entitled to receive a distribution, the date on which notice of the meeting is mailed or the date on which the resolution of the Board of Directors declaring such distribution is adopted, as the case may be, shall be the record date for such determination of Members. When a determination of Members entitled to vote at any meeting of Members has been made as provided in this Section, such determination shall apply to any adjournment thereof except where the determination has been made through the closing of the transfer records and the stated period of closing has expired.
Whenever action by Members is proposed to be taken by consent in writing without a meeting of Members, the Board of Directors may fix a record date for the purpose of determining Members entitled to consent to that action, which shall not precede, and shall not be more than ten (10) days after, the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board of Directors. If no record date has been fixed by the Board of Directors and prior action of the Board of Directors is not required by the Act, the record date for determining Members entitled to consent to action in writing without a meeting shall be the first date on which a signed written consent setting forth the action taken or proposed to be taken is delivered to the Company by delivery to its registered office, registered agent, principal place of business, an Officer or agent having custody of the books in which proceedings of meetings of Members are recorded, or any transfer agent, registrar, or exchange agent, if applicable. Delivery shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. Delivery to the Company’s principal place of business shall be addressed to the Secretary or principal executive officer of the Company. If no record date shall have been fixed by the Board of Directors and prior action of the Board of Directors is required by the Act, the record date for determining Members entitled to consent to action in writing without a meeting shall be at the close of business on the date on which the Board of Directors adopts a resolution taking such prior action.
|
|
3.4
|
Capital Contributions, Units, Ownership Percentage.
|
The total capital contributions, number of Units owned by each, and ownership percentage of the Members, are as set forth in
Exhibit A
hereto.
|
|
3.5
|
Additional Contributions; Acquisition of Additional Units.
|
The Members are not required to make any additional capital contribution to the Company. The Members may acquire additional Units in the Company upon the payment to the Company of the subscription price for the Units acquired by the Member, as established from time to time by the Board of Directors.
|
|
3.6
|
Liability of Members.
|
The Members shall not be liable for any debt, obligation, or liability of the Company, including a debt, obligation, or liability under a judgment, decree or order of a court.
Except as otherwise expressly agreed in writing, no Member in its capacity as such shall have any fiduciary duty of any kind toward the Company or any other Member. No measure of control over the Company’s business, and no special knowledge, held by a Member will impose on that Member in its capacity as such any fiduciary duty of any kind toward the Company or any other Member. Except as otherwise expressly agreed in writing, no arrangement or relationship between a Member and the Company or between that Member and another Member will create for any other Member in its capacity as such a fiduciary duty toward the Member having such an arrangement or relationship.
|
|
3.7
|
No Preemptive Rights.
|
Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, no Member shall have any preemptive, preferential, or other right with respect to the issuance or sale of Units that may be issued or sold by the Company.
|
|
4.
|
ALLOCATION OF INCOME, GAINS, AND LOSSES
|
The Company shall initially be a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes and all items of income, gain, loss and deduction shall be allocated to its sole Member.
|
|
5.
|
ELECTION RELATED TO TAX STATUS.
|
|
|
5.1
|
Election to Change Tax Status.
|
The Company shall initially be a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes, provided however that the Members will have the power to subsequently make an election for the Company to be classified as an association to be taxed as a corporation for income tax purposes in accordance with the provisions of Income Tax Regulation § 301.7701-3(c) and the provisions of Regulation § 301.7701-3(g), as such regulations may be amended from time to time (including corresponding provisions of succeeding regulations). Any action to make any such election shall require the unanimous consent of the Members.
Property, whether real, personal or mixed and whether tangible or intangible, owned or purchased by the Company shall be held and owned, and conveyance shall be made, in the name of the Company.
Distributions shall be made to the Members from time to time as the Board of Directors may determine in their discretion in direct proportion to each Member’s ownership of Units. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in this Agreement, the Company shall not make a distribution to any Member on account of its interest in the Company if such distribution would violate Section 101.206 of the Act
|
|
7.2
|
Distributions on Termination of the Company.
|
Distributions on termination of the Company shall be made in accordance with Section 13.2.
To the extent any payment made to a Member is incorrectly paid, as determined by the Company’s financial statements, any Member who receives more than should have been paid to such Member shall promptly repay to the Company the amount of any such incorrect payment, and any such repaid amounts shall be applied, retained, or redistributed pursuant to this Agreement or as determined by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors or any Officer authorized by the Board of Directors for such purposes may compromise or release any obligation of a Member (or a Member’s legal representative or successor) to make a contribution to the Company, to otherwise pay cash or transfer property to the Company, or to return cash or property paid or distributed by the Company to the Member in violation of the Act, the Certificate of Formation, or this Agreement.
All amounts withheld pursuant to the Code or any provision of any state or local tax law with respect to any payment or distribution to any Member shall be treated as amounts distributed to that Member pursuant to this Article 7 for all purposes under this Agreement. The Board of Directors may allocate any such amounts among the Members in any manner that is in accordance with applicable law.
|
|
8.
|
ACCOUNTING AND TAX MATTERS
|
The fiscal year of the Company shall be the fiscal year selected by the Board of Directors.
|
|
8.2
|
Method of Accounting.
|
The books of the Company, for both tax and financial reporting purposes, shall be kept on the method of accounting selected by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors shall cause Company tax returns to be prepared and filed with appropriate authorities on a timely basis.
|
|
9.
|
BOARD OF DIRECTORS; Officers
|
Except and to the extent that the Act, the Certificate of Formation, or this Agreement shall reserve the same to the Members in whole or in part or otherwise restrict the powers of the Board of Directors, the powers of the Company shall be exercised by or under the authority of, and the business and affairs of the Company shall be managed under the direction of, the Directors who shall comprise the Board of Directors of the Company. If there are two or more Directors, any action of the Board of Directors shall be taken by the vote of a majority of the Directors then serving and present at a meeting at which a quorum is present (unless another percentage is required by the Act, the Certificate of Formation, or this Agreement), each such Director having one vote. The Directors shall not be agents of the Company for the purpose of its business pursuant to Section 101.254 of the Act, and shall not individually have the authority to act for the Company or otherwise bind the Company.
|
|
9.2
|
Restriction of Powers.
|
The Board of Directors shall have no authority to merge or dissolve the Company, liquidate it, or dispose of substantially all of its property without the unanimous approval of the Members.
|
|
9.3
|
Number; Qualifications.
|
The Board of Directors of the Company shall consist of one or more Persons. The number of Persons serving as Directors on the Board of Directors shall be fixed from time to time by written consent of a Majority in Interest of the Members. The initial number of Directors shall be four and the names of such initial Directors are listed on
Schedule B
attached hereto. No decrease in the number of Directors shall have the effect of shortening the term of any incumbent Director. Directors need not be residents of the State of Texas nor Members of the Company.
Schedule B
attached hereto shall be amended from time to time by the Board of Directors to reflect the names of the current Directors, and any such amendment to the information contained therein made in accordance with the provisions of this Section 9.3 shall not constitute an amendment of this Agreement. Each Director elected, designated or appointed by the Members shall hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified or until such Director’s earlier death, resignation or removal.
|
|
9.4
|
Election and Removal.
|
The Persons serving as Directors on the Board of Directors shall be elected and removed from time to time, with or without cause, by a Majority in Interest of the Members. Any vacancy occurring in the Board of Directors other than as a result of the removal of a Director by the Members may be filled for the remainder of any unexpired term, if any, by a majority vote of the remaining Directors even if the number of remaining Directors does not constitute a quorum.
|
|
9.5
|
Extent of Directors’ Obligations.
|
The Directors shall devote to the Company such time as may be necessary for the proper performance of all Director duties hereunder, but the Directors shall not be required to devote themselves full time to the performance of such duties unless required to do so by another agreement.
|
|
9.6
|
Liability of Directors.
|
The Directors shall not be liable for any debt, obligation, or liability of the Company, including a debt, obligation, or liability under a judgment, decree or order of a court.
Except as provided in this Agreement, the Directors shall have a fiduciary duty of loyalty and care similar to that of a director of a business corporation organized under the Act in exercising their rights and performing their duties under this Agreement.
The Board of Directors may appoint one or more Advisory Directors of the Company (hereinafter, such individual or individuals so appointed by the Board of Directors shall be referred to as “
Advisory Directors
”). Advisory Directors may be called upon individually or as a group by the Board of Directors or Officers of the Company to give advice and counsel to the Company, Directors and Officers. The Advisory Directors shall not be Directors for purposes of this Agreement or “managers” for purposes of the Act and shall have no authority to act, to enter into any contract, to incur any liability or to make any representation or warranties on behalf of the
Company. The Directors shall have no obligation to consult with or seek any advice of the Advisory Directors with respect to any action taken by the Board of Directors for such action to be valid. Advisory Directors shall receive from the Company such remuneration as shall be fixed by the Board of Directors. Terms of the Advisory Directors shall expire on the day of the Annual Meeting of the Company, provided, however, that Advisory Directors shall serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors and may be removed at any time with or without cause by a vote of the Board of Directors. For purposes of Article 10 hereof (Indemnification), the Board of Directors may authorize that the Advisory Directors of the Company may enjoy the same rights and privileges as Directors of the Company. The Company may require any Advisory Director to enter into an agreement with respect to its duties and obligations from time to time as a condition of their appointment. The Board may take action to more particularly describe the duties and roles of the Advisory Directors by adopting a charter for an advisory board of directors so long as such charter is not inconsistent with the Act or this Section 9.8.
|
|
9.9.1
|
General
. The Board of Directors may select natural persons to be designated as officers of the Company (“
Officers
”), with such titles as the Board of Directors shall determine in its sole discretion. Any number of offices may be held by the same person. The Officers shall hold office until their successors are chosen and qualify. The initial Officers are listed on
Schedule C
attached hereto.
Schedule C
attached hereto shall be amended from time to time by the Board of Directors to reflect the current Officers. Any such amendment to the information contained therein made in accordance with the provisions of this Section shall not constitute an amendment of this Agreement nor shall it be a condition to the appointment of any Officer. Officers and agents shall have such authority and perform such duties in the management of the Company as may be provided by the Act or this Agreement or as shall be determined from time to time by resolution of the Board of Directors not inconsistent with this Agreement.
|
The duties and authorities of the following Officers shall be as set forth below:
|
|
(a)
|
Chair of the Board
. The Chair of the Board shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors and shall have such other powers and duties as may from time to time be prescribed by the Board of Directors upon written directions given to him or her pursuant to resolutions duly adopted by the Board of Directors.
|
|
|
(b)
|
The Chief Executive Officer
. The Chief Executive Officer or, if no Chief Executive Officer is elected, the President, subject to the direction of the Board of Directors, shall have direct charge of and general supervision over the day-to-day business and affairs of the Company.
|
|
|
(c)
|
The President
. The President shall perform all duties incident to the office of president of a corporation organized under the Act and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him or her by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer. In the absence of a Chief Executive Officer, the President shall be the chief executive officer of the Company, shall have general and active management of the business and affairs of the Company, and shall see that all orders and resolutions of the Board of Directors are
|
carried into effect. He or she shall preside at all meetings of the Members and at all meetings of the Board of Directors in the absence or disability of the Chair of the Board. The President shall have authority to sign and deliver in the name of the Company any deeds, mortgages, bonds, contracts, or other instruments pertaining to the business of the Company, except in cases in which the authority to sign and deliver is required by law to be exercised by another person or is expressly delegated by this Agreement or the Board of Directors to some other person.
|
|
(d)
|
Vice Presidents
. Each Vice President shall have such powers and shall perform such duties incident to the offices of a vice president of a corporation organized under the Act and such other duties from time to time as may be conferred upon or assigned to him or her by the Board of Directors or as may be delegated to him or her by the Chief Executive Officer or the President.
|
|
|
(e)
|
Secretary
. The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the Members and all meetings of the Board of Directors and record all the proceedings of the meetings of the Members and of the Board of Directors in a book to be kept for that purpose and shall perform like duties for any standing committees of the Board of Directors when required. The Secretary shall cause notices of all meetings of the Members and the Board of Directors to be given in accordance with this Agreement, shall be custodian of the records and the seal, if any, of the Company, and shall cause the Company seal, if any, to be affixed to all documents the execution of which under seal is duly authorized, and when the Company seal is so affixed, may attest to the same. The Secretary shall perform such other duties as are incident to the office of secretary of a corporation organized under the Act or as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors or the President, under whose supervision the Secretary shall be. The Board of Directors may appoint one or more Assistant Secretaries to perform the duties of the Secretary.
|
|
|
(f)
|
Treasurer
. The Treasurer shall have charge and custody of, and be responsible for, all funds, securities, receipts and disbursements of the Company and shall deposit or cause to be deposited all moneys and other valuable effects in the name and to the credit of the Company in such banks, trust companies or other depositories as shall, from time to time, be designated by the Board of Directors or by the Treasurer if so authorized by the Board of Directors. The Treasurer: (A) may endorse for collection on behalf of the Company checks, notes and other obligations, (B) may sign receipts and vouchers for payments made to the Company, (C) may, singly or jointly with another person as may be authorized by the Board of Directors, sign checks on the Company’s accounts and pay out and disburse the funds of the Company under the direction of the Board of Directors, taking proper vouchers for such disbursements, and (D) shall render or cause to be rendered to the Chief Executive Officer, the President and the Board of Directors, whenever requested, an account of all of the Treasurer’s transactions and of the financial condition of the Company. The Treasurer shall perform such other duties as are incident to the office of treasurer of a corporation organized under the Act or as may be assigned from time to time by the Chief Executive Officer,
|
the President or the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors may appoint one or more Assistant Treasurers to perform the duties of the Treasurer.
|
|
(g)
|
Tax Officers
. One or more Tax Officers shall have the authority to communicate with the Internal Revenue Service and with state and local tax authorities, may sign tax returns, shall pay or cause to be paid taxes and shall have the authority to settle tax liabilities in the name or on behalf of the Company.
|
|
|
9.9.2
|
Officers as Agents; Delegation
. The Officers, to the extent of their powers set forth in this Agreement or otherwise vested in them by action of the Board of Directors not inconsistent with this Agreement, are agents of the Company for the purpose of the Company’s business, and the actions of the Officers taken in accordance with such powers shall bind the Company. The Board of Directors may from time to time delegate additional authorities and responsibilities to one or more officers and agents.
|
|
|
9.9.3
|
Duties of Officers
. Except to the extent otherwise provided herein, each Officer shall have a fiduciary duty of loyalty and care similar to that of officers of business corporations organized under the Act.
|
|
|
9.9.4
|
Liability of Officers
. The Officers shall not be liable for any debt, obligation, or liability of the Company, including a debt, obligation, or liability under a judgment, decree or order of a court.
|
|
|
10.1
|
Power to Indemnify in Actions, Suits or Proceedings other than those by or in the Right of the Company.
|
Subject to Section 10.3 of this Article 10, the Company shall indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to or witness or other participant in, any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, arbitrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the Company) by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a Director or Officer of the Company, or is or was a Director or Officer of the Company serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, manager, partner, venturer, proprietor, trustee, employee or agent or similar functionary of another corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise (hereinafter referred to as a “
Delegate
”), against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement that are reasonable and actually incurred by him or her in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed (i) in the case of conduct in his or her official capacity, to be in the Company’s best interest and (ii) in all other cases was not opposed to the best interests of the Company, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, he or she had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of
nolo contendere
or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which he or she reasonably believed (i) in the case of conduct in his or her official capacity, to be in the Company’s best interest and (ii) in all other cases was not
opposed to the best interests of the Company, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, he or she had reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful.
In the event that a person is found liable to the Company or is found liable on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received by such person, the indemnification (i) is limited to reasonable expenses actually incurred by the person in connection with the proceeding, (ii) shall not include a judgment, penalty, fine, or any excise or similar tax, including excise tax assessed against the person with respect to an employee benefit plan, and (iii) shall not be made (even as to expenses) in respect of any proceeding in which the person shall have been found liable for willful or intentional misconduct in the performance of his or her duty to the Company, for breach of his or her duty of loyalty owed to the Company, or for an act or omission not committed in good faith that constitutes a breach of a duty owed by him or her to the Company.
|
|
10.2
|
Power to Indemnify in Actions, Suits or Proceedings by or in the Right of the Company.
|
Subject to Section 10.3 hereof and to the maximum extent permitted by law, the Company shall indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a Director or Officer of the Company or a Delegate against reasonable expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually incurred by him or her in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed (i) in the case of conduct in his or her official capacity, to be in the Company’s best interest and (ii) in all other cases was not opposed to the best interests of the Company, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, he or she had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful; except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the Company unless and only to the extent that the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the court shall deem proper.
|
|
10.3
|
Authorization of Indemnification.
|
Any indemnification of a Director or Officer under this Article 10 (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the Company upon a determination that indemnification of the Director or Officer is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in Section 10.1 or Section 10.2 of this Article 10, as the case may be and with respect to expenses, the amount of expenses other than a judgment is reasonable. Such determination shall be made (i) by the Board of Directors by a majority vote of those Directors who at the time of the vote are disinterested and independent regardless of whether such directors constitute a quorum, or (ii) by majority vote of a committee of the Directors duly designated by a majority vote of the directors who at the time of the vote are disinterested and independent, regardless of whether the Directors who are disinterested and independent constitute a quorum and consisting solely of one or more Directors who are disinterested and independent, or (iii) by special legal counsel selected by the Directors or a committee by vote in accordance with (i) or (ii) above in a written opinion, or (iv) by the Members of the Company in a vote that excludes the Units held by each Director who is not disinterested and independent, or (v) by a unanimous vote of the Members. To the extent, however, that a current or former Director or Officer of the Company or a Delegate has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or
proceeding described above, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, he or she shall be indemnified against reasonable expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually incurred by him or her in connection therewith, without the necessity of authorization in the specific case.
Any indemnification under this Article 10 shall be made promptly and, in any event, to the extent practicable, within sixty (60) days of receipt by the Company of the written request of the person to be indemnified.
For purposes of any determination under Section 10.3 of this Article 10, a person shall be deemed to have acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed, (i) in the case of conduct in his or her official capacity, to be in the Company’s best interest and (ii) in all other cases, was not opposed to the best interests of the Company, or, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, he or she had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful, if his or her action is based on the records or books of account of the Company or another enterprise, or on information supplied to him or her by the Officers of the Company or the officers of another enterprise in the course of their duties, or on the advice of legal counsel for the Company or another enterprise or on information or records given or reports made to the Company or another enterprise by an independent certified public accountant or by an appraiser or other expert selected with reasonable care by the Company or another enterprise. The term “another enterprise” as used in this Section 10.4 shall mean any other limited liability company, corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise of which such person is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, manager, partner, venturer, proprietor, trustee, employee or agent or similar functionary. The provisions of this Section 10.4 shall not be deemed to be exclusive or to limit in any way the circumstances in which a person may be deemed to have met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in Sections 10.1 or 10.2 of this Article 10, as the case may be.
|
|
10.5
|
Indemnification by a Court.
|
Notwithstanding any contrary determination in the specific case under Section 10.3 of this Article 10 and notwithstanding the absence of any determination thereunder, any current or former Director or Officer or Delegate may apply to any court of competent jurisdiction in the State of Texas for indemnification to the extent otherwise permissible under Sections 10.1 and 10.2 of this Article 10. Such court may order indemnification to the extent the court determines that such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification in view of all the relevant circumstances. Notice of any application for indemnification pursuant to this Section 10.5 shall be given to the Company promptly upon the filing of such application. If such application is successful, in whole or in part, the Director or Officer or Delegate seeking indemnification shall also be entitled to be paid the expense of securing the indemnification. Indemnification ordered by a court may be limited to the extent provided in Section 8.052 of the Act.
|
|
10.6
|
Expenses Payable in Advance.
|
Expenses incurred by a present Director or Officer or Delegate in defending or investigating a threatened or pending action, suit or proceeding described above shall be paid by the Company in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding without making the determinations required under Section 10.3 hereof within fourteen (14) days after receipt by the Company of a written statement from such Director or Officer or Delegate requesting such an
advancement, together with a written affirmation by the person of the person’s good faith belief that the person has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification under Section 10.3 hereof in addition to an undertaking, if required by law at the time of such advance, by or on behalf of such Director or Officer or Delegate to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he or she is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company as authorized in this Article 10 or otherwise prohibited from being indemnified.
|
|
10.7
|
Nonexclusivity of Indemnification and Advancement of Expenses.
|
The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by or granted pursuant to this Article 10 shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any governing document, agreement, contract, or vote of members or disinterested Directors or pursuant to the direction (howsoever embodied) of any court of competent jurisdiction or otherwise, both as to action taken (or omitted to be taken) in his or her official capacity and as to action taken (or omitted to be taken) in another capacity while holding such office, it being the policy of the Company that indemnification of the persons specified in Sections 10.1 and 10.2 of this Article 10 shall be made to the fullest extent permitted by law. The provisions of this Article 10 shall not be deemed to preclude the indemnification of any person who is not specified in Sections 10.1 or 10.2 of this Article 10 but whom the Company has the power or obligation to indemnify under the provisions of the Act, or otherwise.
The Company may maintain insurance, at its expense, to protect itself and any Director, Officer, employee or agent of the Company or a Delegate against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not the Company would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the Act or the provisions of this Article 10. The Company may also obtain a letter of credit, act as self-insurer, create a reserve, trust, escrow, cash collateral or other fund or account, enter into indemnification agreements, pledge or grant a security interest in any assets or properties of the Company, or use any other mechanism or arrangement whatsoever in such amounts, at such costs, and upon such other terms and conditions as the Board of Directors shall deem appropriate for the protection of any or all such persons.
|
|
10.9
|
Certain Definitions.
|
For purposes of this Article 10, references to “the Company” shall include, in addition to the resulting company, any constituent company or corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, managers, and officers, so that any person who is or was a director or officer of such constituent entity, or is or was a director, manager, or officer of such constituent entity serving at the request of such constituent entity as a director, officer, manager, partner, venturer, proprietor, trustee, employee or agent or similar functionary of another corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under the provisions of this Article 10 with respect to the resulting or surviving entity as he or she would have with respect to such constituent entity if its separate existence had continued. For purposes of this Article 10, references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to an employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the Company” shall include any service as a Director or Officer of the Company which imposes duties on, or involves
services by, such Director or Officer with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; a person who acted in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the Company” as referred to in this Article 10; and an action taken or omitted by a Delegate for a purpose reasonably believed by the person to be in the interest of the other enterprise or its owners or members is for a purpose that is “not opposed to the best interests of the enterprise” as referred to in this Article 10.
|
|
10.10
|
Survival of Indemnification and Advancement of Expenses.
|
The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this Article 10 shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a Director or Officer and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.
|
|
10.11
|
Limitation on Indemnification.
|
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Article to the contrary, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification (which shall be governed by Section 10.5 hereof), the Company shall not be obligated to indemnify any Director or Officer in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person unless such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board of Directors of the Company.
|
|
10.12
|
Indemnification of Advisory Directors, Employees and Agents.
|
The Company may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board of Directors, provide rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses to Directors, Advisory Directors, Officers, employees and agents of the Company or of its wholly or partially owned, direct or indirect affiliated or subsidiary companies similar to those conferred in this Article 10 to Directors and Officers of the Company.
|
|
10.13
|
Repeal or Modification.
|
All rights to indemnification and to advancement of expenses under this Article 10 shall be deemed to be a contract between the Company and each Director and Officer who serves or has served in any such capacity, and each other person as to whom the Company has agreed to grant indemnity at any time while this Article is in effect. Any repeal or modification of this Article or any repeal or modification of relevant provisions of the Act or any other applicable law shall not in any way diminish any right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses of such Director, Officer or other person as to whom the Company has agreed to grant indemnity, or the obligations of the Company, arising hereunder for claims relating to matters occurring prior to such repeal or modification.
If this Article 10 or any portion hereof shall be invalidated on any ground by any court of competent jurisdiction, then the Company shall nevertheless indemnify each Director and Officer, and each employee, agent and other person as to whom the Company has agreed to grant indemnity to the full extent permitted by any applicable portion of this Article 10 that shall not have been invalidated and to the full extent permitted by applicable law.
|
|
11.
|
MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND MEMBERS
|
Meetings of the Board of Directors, regular or special, may be held either within or without the State of Texas. Meetings may be held by telephonic conference.
|
|
11.2
|
First Meeting of Board of Directors.
|
After the Certificate of Formation is filed with the Secretary of State, an organizational meeting of the initial Directors named as the initial “managers” in the Certificate of Formation shall be held, either within or without the State of Texas, at the call of a majority of the Directors named as “managers” in the Certificate of Formation, for the purpose of submitting this Agreement for adoption by the Company and transacting such other business as may come before the meeting. The Directors calling the meeting shall give at least one day’s notice thereof to each Director so named, stating the time and place of the meeting.
Regular meetings of the Board of Directors may be held with or without notice, unless notice is required under this Agreement, and at such time and at such place as shall from time to time be determined by the Board of Directors.
Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by any Director. Notice of each special meeting of the Board of Directors shall be given to each Director at least 24 hours before the date of the meeting.
|
|
11.5
|
Notice and Waiver of Notice.
|
Attendance of a Director at any meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting, except where a Director attends for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business on the ground that the meeting is not lawfully called or convened. Any Director, whether or not attending, may waive notice by the execution of a written waiver. Except as may be otherwise provided by this Agreement, neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors need be specified in the notice or waiver of notice of such meeting.
|
|
11.6
|
Quorum of Directors, Acts of Board of Directors.
|
At all meetings of the Board of Directors, a majority of the Directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, unless a different number or percentage is required by the Act, the Certificate of Formation or this Agreement. If a quorum shall not be present at any meeting of Board of Directors, the Directors present at that meeting may adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum shall be present. The act of a majority of the Directors present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of the Board of Directors. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board of Directors or of any sub-committee thereof may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board of Directors or sub-committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing, and the writing or writings are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board of Directors or sub-committee. Any and all actions of the Board of Directors must be taken at a duly authorized meeting of the Board of Directors or upon unanimous written consent of the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors, by resolution, may designate from among the Directors one or more committees, each of which shall be comprised of one or more of the Directors, and may designate one or more of the Directors as alternate members of any committee, who may, subject to any limitations imposed by the Board of Directors, replace absent or disqualified Directors at any meeting of that committee. Any such committee shall have and may exercise all of the authority of the Board of Directors, subject to the limitations set out in Section 101.253 of the Act and the provisions of this Agreement. The Board may take action to establish a committee by adopting a charter for such committee which describes the duties and obligations of such committee and its members so long as such charter is not inconsistent with the Act or this Section 11.7.
The Board of Directors may from time to time delegate specific authorities and responsibilities to one or more Directors who, pursuant to such delegations, will have the power to exercise such responsibilities and the obligation to fulfill such responsibilities without the joinder or consent of the other Directors.
|
|
11.9
|
Meetings of Members.
|
An annual meeting of the Members shall be held at such time and place as the Board of Directors shall specify, which date shall be within 13 months after the last annual meeting of Members, but failure to hold any such annual meeting shall not affect otherwise valid acts of the Company or work a forfeiture or dissolution of the Company. Members holding at least an aggregate 20% of all Units, or any Director, may also call a meeting of the Members. All such meetings shall be held not less than ten (10) nor more than sixty (60) days after the date of written notice thereof, at such place in or outside of Texas as the notice shall specify. The notice shall describe the matters to be considered at the meeting, and no matter other than those described in the notice may be taken up at the meeting. Members holding a Majority in Interest of the Members shall constitute a quorum. Any Member attending the meeting shall be deemed to have waived notice thereof unless he or she is attending for the exclusive purpose of objecting to the validity of the meeting. Any Member, whether or not attending, may waive notice by the execution of a written waiver. If all Members waive notice, a meeting shall be valid even though proper or timely notice thereof may not have been given, and any matter may be considered at such a meeting whether
or not described in the notice of the meeting. Nothing in this Section 11.9 will create or enlarge any voting right with respect to any Units whose voting rights have been limited or eliminated.
|
|
11.10
|
Action Without Meetings.
|
As provided in Section 6.202 of the Act and subject to the timing and notice requirements of that section, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Members may be taken without holding a meeting, providing notice, or taking a vote if a written consent stating the action taken is executed by the Members having at least the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to take such action at a meeting at which all Members entitled to vote on the action are present and vote. Nothing in this Section 11.10 will create or enlarge any voting right with respect to any Units whose voting rights have been limited or eliminated.
|
|
12
|
ADMISSION AND WITHDRAWAL OF MEMBERS; TRANSFERS OF INTERESTS.
|
|
|
12.1
|
Units Acquired Directly From The Company.
|
After the formation of the Company, the Board of Directors may admit any Person as a new Member upon the payment to the Company of the consideration for the Units acquired by him, as established from time to time by the Board of Directors. Any Person becoming a Member shall execute a written acknowledgment that he or she has read this Agreement, the Certificate of Formation, and all amendments hereto and thereto and that he or she agrees to be bound by the terms of the Company Agreement.
|
|
12.2
|
Right of Transferee to Become a Member.
|
A transferee of all or part of a Member’s Membership Interest whose ownership is recorded in the transfer records of the Company in accordance with Section 3.1 hereof shall become a Member, and shall have all of the rights and privileges arising out of or associated with the assigned Membership Interest, without any further action of the Company, the Board of Directors, or the Members. The assignor of such Membership Interest will cease to be a Member upon the effectiveness of the assignment when recorded in the transfer records of the Company in accordance with Section 3.1 hereof.
Any Person becoming a substituted Member shall pay the reasonable costs of such substitution incurred by the Company.
|
|
12.3
|
Withdrawal by a Member.
|
No Member may withdraw from membership in the Company prior to the dissolution and winding up of the Company without the written consent of the Members. If consent is given, the withdrawal shall be on such terms and conditions as the Board of Directors may deem appropriate in their sole discretion.
|
|
13.
|
DISSOLUTION AND TERMINATION
|
|
|
13.1
|
Causes of Dissolution.
|
The Company shall be dissolved upon the earliest to occur of the following:
|
|
13.1.1
|
The unanimous agreement of the Members that the Company should be dissolved;
|
|
|
13.1.2
|
The retirement, resignation or dissolution of the last remaining Member or the occurrence of any other event that terminates the continued membership of the last remaining Member in the Company unless the business of the Company is continued in a manner permitted by the Act; or
|
|
|
13.1.3
|
Entry of a decree of judicial dissolution under Section 11.051(5) of the Act.
|
Upon the dissolution of the Company, unless the business of the Company is continued as provided in Section 13.1.2 of this Agreement, the Company shall continue solely for the purposes of winding up its affairs in an orderly manner, liquidating its property, and satisfying the claims of its creditors and Members. No Director shall have the authority to take any action that is inconsistent with, or not necessary to or appropriate for, the winding up of the Company’s business and affairs. The Board of Directors (or, in the event there is no remaining Director, any Person elected by a Majority in Interest of the Members) shall be responsible for overseeing the winding up of the Company and shall take full account of the Company’s liabilities and property. The Company property shall be liquidated as promptly as is consistent with obtaining the fair value thereof, and the proceeds therefrom, to the extent sufficient therefor, shall be applied and distributed in the following order:
|
|
13.2.1
|
First, to the payment and discharge of all of the Company’s debts and liabilities to creditors other than the Members;
|
|
|
13.2.2
|
Second, to the payment and discharge of all of the Company’s debts and liabilities to the Members; and
|
|
|
13.2.3
|
Thereafter, the balance, if any, to the Members in proportion to their ownership of Units.
|
In the discretion of the Board of Directors or other person in charge of winding up, a pro rata portion of the distributions that would otherwise be made to the Members pursuant to this Article 13 may be distributed to a trust established for the benefit of the Members for the purposes of liquidating Company assets, collecting amounts owed to the Company, and paying any contested, contingent, or unforeseen liabilities or obligations of the Company arising out of or in connection with the Company. The assets of any such trust shall be distributed to the Members, from time to time, in the reasonable discretion of the Board of Directors or other person in charge of winding up, in the same proportions among the Members as such amount would have been distributed directly from the Company pursuant to this Agreement.
|
|
14.1
|
Confidentiality of Company Records.
|
No Member or assignee of a Member (or representative of either) shall have a right under the Act or this Agreement to inspect, examine, copy, or receive a disclosure of any of the Company’s information, documents, or records except for a proper purpose. In response to any request (even if for a proper purpose) by a Member or assignee of a Member (or representative of either) for such an inspection, examination, copying, or disclosure, the Company may deny access by such Member or assignee of a Member (or representative of either) to any information, document, or record that is not described in Section 101.502(a) of the Act and that the Board of Directors (or any officer to whom the authority of this Section shall have been delegated) determines (a) contains or discloses information in the nature of trade secrets, (b) is required to be kept confidential by the Company or any affiliate by law or by agreement with any third party, or (c) is information the disclosure of which is not in the best interests of or could damage the Company or any of its affiliates. Additionally, the Company may require any Member or assignee of a Member (or representative or either) requesting (even if for a proper purpose) an inspection, examination, copying, or disclosure of any of the Company’s information, documents, or records (including information, documents, and records described in Section 101.502(a) of the Act) to enter into a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement prior to receiving any requested information, documents, or records.
The Agreement and the rights, interests, and obligations of the Members with respect to the Company shall be governed by, interpreted, construed, and enforced in accordance with the Act, and as made applicable by the Act and the other laws of the State of Texas.
Subject to the restrictions on transfers set forth in Article 12, this Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors, and permitted assigns.
Any notice, request, payment, demand, or communication required or permitted to be given by any provision of this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be delivered personally to the Person or to an officer of the Person to whom the same is directed, or sent by regular, registered, or certified mail, by overnight courier, or by telecopy, addressed as follows, or to such other address as such Person may from time to time specify by notice to the Board of Directors and Members:
if to the Board of Directors, addressed to:
1600 Perdido Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
if to a Member, addressed to the Member at the address set forth on
Exhibit A
.
Any such notice shall be deemed to be delivered, given, and received for all purposes as of the date so delivered, if delivered personally or if sent by overnight courier, telecopy, or regular mail, or three days after the date on which the same was deposited in a regularly maintained receptacle for the deposit of United States mail, if sent by registered or certified mail, postage and charges prepaid. If an attempt to give notice by facsimile transmission fails because of any problem with the recipient’s designated facsimile number or facsimile equipment, such notice will nevertheless be considered to have been effected on the day of that attempted transmission if it is also transmitted that day by overnight delivery to the recipient and is actually received on the next following business day. Any Person may from time to time specify a different address by notice to the Board of Directors and Members.
|
|
14.5
|
Variation of Pronouns.
|
All pronouns and any variations thereof shall be deemed to refer to the masculine, feminine, or neuter, as the identity of the Person or Persons may require. The use of the singular shall include a reference to the plural and vice-versa unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
|
|
14.6
|
Headings; References.
|
The cover page, table of contents, titles of articles, section and other headings contained in this Agreement are for reference purposes only and are not intended to describe, interpret, define, or limit the scope, extent, or intent of this Agreement or any provision hereof. References to Sections or Articles mean the Sections or Articles of this Agreement, unless otherwise noted.
The Agreement, together with the Certificate of Formation, contains the entire agreement between the parties hereto relative to the formation and operation of the Company. The Agreement supersedes any prior understanding or oral or written agreement between the parties respecting the subject matter of the Agreement.
Every provision of this Agreement is intended to be severable. If any term or provision hereof is illegal or invalid for any reason whatsoever, such illegality or invalidity shall not affect the validity or legality of the remainder of this Agreement.
|
|
14.9
|
Incorporation by Reference.
|
Every exhibit, schedule, and other appendix attached to this Agreement and referred to herein is hereby incorporated in this Agreement by reference.
Each Member, upon the request of the Board of Directors, agrees to perform all further acts and execute, acknowledge, and deliver any documents which may be reasonably necessary, appropriate, or desirable to carry out the provisions of this Agreement.
|
|
14.11
|
Waiver of Partition.
|
To the maximum extent permitted under applicable law, each Member hereby irrevocably waives the right, if any, to partition the property and/or any other assets of the Company.
Except as otherwise specifically provided in the Agreement, no amendment, modification, or change of the Agreement, or any part thereof, shall be valid and effective unless made in writing and signed by all of the Members.
Except where a specific time period is provided hereunder for the exercise of a right or remedy, any party’s forbearance in the exercise or enforcement of any right or remedy under this Agreement will not constitute a waiver thereof, and a waiver under one circumstance will not constitute a waiver under any other circumstance.
The Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which, taken together, shall constitute but one and the same instrument, which may be sufficiently evidenced by one counterpart.
[The remainder of this page is intentionally left blank.
The next page of this document is S-1]
Executed to be effective as set forth above:
MEMBER
:
|
|
|
|
ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS, INC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By:
/s/ Charles L. Rice, Jr.
|
|
|
Name: Charles L. Rice, Jr.
Its: President and Chief Executive Officer
|
|
|
|
|
|
EXHIBIT A
1
|
|
|
|
|
Member’s Name
and Address
|
Initial
Contribution
|
Units
|
Percentage
Ownership
|
|
|
|
|
Entergy Utility Holding Company, LLC
|
$1,000.00
|
100 Common
|
100%
|
2001 Timberloch Place
The Woodlands, TX 77380
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.
|
This Exhibit A reflects ownership in the Company as of December 1, 2017 rather than as of the date of the initial adoption of the Company Agreement on July 18, 2017.
|
SCHEDULE B
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Paul D. Hinnenkamp
Andrew S. Marsh
Charles L. Rice, Jr.
Roderick K. West
SCHEDULE C
OFFICERS
|
|
|
Name
|
Title
|
Charles L. Rice, Jr.
|
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer
|
Roderick K. West
|
Group President, Utility Operations
|
Andrew S. Marsh
|
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
|
Marcus V. Brown
|
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
|
Joseph T. Henderson
|
Senior Vice President and General Tax Counsel
|
Alyson M. Mount
|
Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer
|
Steven C. McNeal
|
Vice President and Treasurer
|
Dennis P. Dawsey
|
Vice President, Customer Service
|
Gary Huntley
|
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
|
Kimberly A. Fontan
|
Vice President, System Planning
|
Daniel T. Falstad
|
Secretary
|
Dawn A. Balash
|
Assistant Secretary
|
Stacey M. Lousteau
|
Assistant Treasurer
|
Mary Ann Valladares
|
Assistant Treasurer
|
Patricia A. Galbraith
|
Tax Officer
|
Rory L. Roberts
|
Tax Officer
|
Mark Keppler
|
Tax Officer
|
Exhibit 4.1
Counterpart __ of 30
ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS POWER, LLC
(
to be renamed Entergy New Orleans, LLC on the effective date of this instrument)
(as successor to Entergy New Orleans, Inc.)
to
THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON
(formerly The Bank of New York, successor to Harris Trust
Company of New York and Bank of Montreal Trust Company)
As Trustee under the Mortgage and Deed of Trust,
dated as of May 1, 1987 of Entergy New Orleans, Inc.
TWENTY-FIRST SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE
Relating to the Transfer of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property
to Entergy New Orleans Power, LLC
(to be renamed Entergy New Orleans, LLC)
and to Certain Amendments
Dated as of November 30, 2017
TWENTY-FIRST SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE,
dated as of November 30, 2017, between ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS POWER, LLC (as successor to Entergy New Orleans, Inc., the “Original Company”), a limited liability company of the State of Texas, whose post office address is 1600 Perdido Street, Building 505, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 (the “Company”) and THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON (formerly The Bank of New York, successor to Harris Trust Company of New York and Bank of Montreal Trust Company), a New York banking corporation, whose principal corporate trust office is located at 101 Barclay Street, New York, New York 10286, as trustee under the Mortgage and Deed of Trust, dated as of May 1, 1987, executed and delivered by the Original Company (herein called the “Original Indenture”; the Original Indenture and any and all indentures and instruments supplemental thereto being herein called the “Indenture”);
WHEREAS, the Original Indenture has been duly recorded and filed as required in the State of Louisiana simultaneously with the recording and filing of the First Supplemental Indenture thereto, dated as of May 1, 1987, between the Original Company and BANK OF MONTREAL TRUST COMPANY (The Bank of New York Mellon, successor) and Z. GEORGE KLODNICKI (Stephen J. Giurlando, successor), as trustees (herein called the “First Supplemental Indenture”); and
WHEREAS, the Original Indenture was recorded in various Parishes in the State of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the Original Company executed and delivered to the Trustees (such term and all other defined terms used herein and not defined herein having the respective definitions to which reference is made in Article I below) its Second Supplemental Indenture, dated as of January 1, 1988, its Third Supplemental Indenture, dated as of March 1, 1993, its Fourth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of September 1, 1993, its Fifth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of April 1, 1995, its Sixth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of March 1, 1996, its Seventh Supplemental Indenture, dated as of July 1, 1998, its Eighth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of July 1, 2000 (the “Eighth Supplemental Indenture”), its Ninth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of February 1, 2001, its Tenth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of October 1, 2002, its Eleventh Supplemental Indenture, dated as of July 1, 2003, its Twelfth Supplemental Indenture dated as of August 1, 2004, its Thirteenth Supplemental Indenture dated as of August 15, 2004, its Fourteenth Supplemental Indenture dated as of June 1, 2005, its Fifteenth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of November 1, 2010, its Sixteenth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of November 1, 2012 (the “Sixteenth Supplemental Indenture”), its Seventeenth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of June 1, 2013 (the “Seventeenth Supplemental Indenture”), which Supplemental Indentures have been duly recorded in various Parishes in the State of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the Original Company executed and delivered to the Trustee its Eighteenth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of March 3, 2016 in connection with the acquisition by the Original Company of certain real property and interests in real property situated in Arkansas, which Supplemental Indenture has been recorded in Union County, Arkansas and certain Parishes in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the Original Company executed and delivered to the Trustee its Nineteenth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of March 15, 2016 (the “Nineteenth Supplemental Indenture”), and its Twentieth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of May 1, 2016 (the “Twentieth Supplemental Indenture”), each as a supplement to the Original Indenture, which Supplemental Indentures have been duly recorded in various Parishes in the State of Louisiana and in Union County, Arkansas, which Parishes and County are the same Parishes and County in which this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture is to be recorded; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of March 18, 1999, Harris Trust Company of New York merged into Bank of Montreal Trust Company, Trustee under the Indenture, and effective July 1, 1999, the combined entity changed its name to Harris Trust Company of New York, and, by virtue of Section 9.03 of the Original Indenture, Harris Trust Company of New York became successor Trustee under the Indenture, without execution of any paper or the performance of any further act on the part of any other parties to the Indenture; and
WHEREAS, effective July 15, 2000, Harris Trust Company of New York and Mark F. McLaughlin resigned as Trustee and Co-Trustee, respectively, under the Indenture, and by the Eighth Supplemental Indenture, the Original Company appointed The Bank of New York and Stephen J. Giurlando as successor Trustee and successor Co-Trustee, respectively, effective July 15, 2000, and The Bank of New York and Stephen J. Giurlando accepted said respective appointments; and
WHEREAS, effective July 1, 2008, The Bank of New York changed its name to The Bank of New York Mellon; and
WHEREAS, effective November 1, 2010, Stephen J. Giurlando resigned as Co-Trustee under the Indenture; and
WHEREAS, the Original Company has heretofore issued, in accordance with the provisions of the Indenture, the following series of bonds:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Series
|
Principal Amount
Issued
|
Principal Amount
Outstanding
|
10.95% Series due May 1, 1997
|
$75,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
13.20% Series due February 1, 1991
|
1,400,000
|
|
None
|
|
13.60% Series due February 1, 1993
|
29,400,000
|
|
None
|
|
13.90% Series due February 1, 1995
|
9,200,000
|
|
None
|
|
7% Series due March 1, 2003
|
25,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
8% Series due March 1, 2023
|
45,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
7.55% Series due September 1, 2023
|
30,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
8.67% Series due April 1, 2005
|
30,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
8% Series due March 1, 2006
|
40,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
7% Series due July 15, 2008
|
30,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
8.125% Series due July 15, 2005
|
30,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
6.65% Series due March 1, 2004
|
30,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
6.75% Series due October 15, 2017
|
25,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
3.875% Series due August 1, 2008
|
30,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
5.25% Series due August 1, 2013
|
70,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
5.65% Series due September 1, 2029
|
40,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
5.60% Series due September 1, 2024
|
35,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
4.98% Series due July 1, 2010
|
30,000,000
|
|
None
|
|
5.10% Series due December 1, 2020
|
25,000,000
|
|
25,000,000
|
|
5.0% Series due December 1, 2052
|
30,000,000
|
|
30,000,000
|
|
3.90% Series due July 1, 2023
|
100,000,000
|
|
100,000,000
|
|
5.50% Series due April 1, 2066
|
110,000,000
|
|
110,000,000
|
|
4% Series due June 1, 2026
|
85,000,000
|
|
85,000,000
|
|
; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 6.02 of the Sixteenth Supplemental Indenture, the term “corporation” is defined in the Indenture to include a limited liability company and certain other entities and references to “corporate” and other derivations of “corporation” in the Indenture shall be deemed to include appropriate derivations of such entities; and
WHEREAS, subject to the provisions thereof, Section 15.01 of the Indenture permits the Original Company to transfer, subject to the Lien of the Indenture, all or substantially all the Mortgaged and Pledged Property as an entirety to any corporation lawfully entitled to acquire or operate the same; and
WHEREAS, Section 15.02 of the Indenture provides, among other things, that if the Original Company shall transfer, subject to the Lien of the Indenture, all or substantially all the Mortgaged and Pledged Property as an entirety to any other corporation, the successor corporation which shall have received such transfer, upon executing with the Trustee and causing to be recorded an indenture whereby such successor corporation shall assume and agree to pay, duly and punctually, the principal of and interest on the bonds issued under the Indenture in accordance with the provisions of said bonds and any coupons and of the Indenture, and shall agree to perform and fulfill all the covenants and conditions of the Indenture to be kept or performed by the Original Company, shall succeed to and be substituted for the Original Company with the same effect as if such successor corporation had been named in the Indenture, and shall have and may exercise under the Indenture the same powers and rights as the Original Company; and
WHEREAS, Section 15.03 of the Indenture provides, among other things, that if the Original Company, as permitted by Section 15.01 of the Indenture, shall transfer, subject to the Lien of the Indenture, all or substantially all the Mortgaged and Pledged Property as an entirety to any other corporation, neither the Indenture nor the indenture with the Trustee to be executed and caused to be recorded by the successor corporation as in Section 15.02 of the Indenture provided, shall, unless such indenture shall otherwise provide, become or be or be required to become or be a lien upon any of the properties, rights or franchises then owned or thereafter acquired by the successor corporation (by purchase, consolidation, merger, donation, construction, erection or in any other way) except (a) those acquired by the successor corporation from the Original Company, and improvements, extensions and additions thereto and renewals and replacements thereof, (b) the property made and used by the successor corporation as the basis under any of the provisions of the Indenture for the authentication and delivery of additional bonds or the withdrawal of cash or the release of property, and (c) such franchises, repairs and additional property as may be acquired, made or constructed by the successor corporation (1) to maintain, renew and preserve the franchises covered by the Indenture, or (2) to maintain the property mortgaged and intended to be mortgaged under the Indenture as an operating system or systems in good repair, working order and condition, or (3) in rebuilding or renewal of property, subject to the Lien of the Indenture, damaged or destroyed, or (4) in replacement of or substitution for machinery, apparatus, equipment, frames, towers, poles, wire, pipe, rails, ties, switches, tools, implements and furniture, subject to the Lien of the Indenture, which shall have become old, inadequate, obsolete, worn out, unfit, unadapted, unserviceable, undesirable or unnecessary for use in the operation of the property mortgaged and intended to be mortgaged under the Indenture; and
WHEREAS, Section 19.04 of the Indenture provides, among other things, that the Company may enter into any further covenants, limitations, restrictions or provisions for the benefit of any one or more series of bonds issued under the Indenture by an instrument in writing executed and acknowledged by the Company in such manner as would be necessary to entitle a conveyance of real estate to be recorded in all of the states in which any property at the time subject to the Lien of the Indenture shall be situated; and
WHEREAS, effective as of November 16, 2017, the Original Company changed its state of incorporation from Louisiana to Texas and converted to a Texas corporation; and
WHEREAS, effective as of 11:58 p.m. Central Time, November 30, 2017, the Original Company will allocate to the Company, among other things, all of its rights, powers, duties and obligations under the Indenture and the bonds outstanding thereunder and, subject to the Lien of the Indenture, all of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property as an entirety (the “2017 Transfer”) pursuant to a Plan of Merger between the Original Company and the Company (the “2017 Transfer Documents”), in connection with which, among other things, the Company will succeed to the ownership of all of the Original Company’s right, title and interest in and to the Mortgaged and Pledged Property as constituted immediately prior to the time that the 2017 Transfer becomes effective and will succeed to all of the Original Company’s rights, powers, duties and obligations under the Indenture and the bonds outstanding thereunder; and
WHEREAS, effective as of December 1, 2017, the name of the Company will be changed from Entergy New Orleans Power, LLC to Entergy New Orleans, LLC; and
WHEREAS, the Company is lawfully entitled to assume or operate the Mortgaged and Pledged Property; and
WHEREAS, in Sections 5.01 through 5.04 of the Sixteenth Supplemental Indenture, the Original Company reserved the right to make certain amendments to the Indenture (herein sometimes referred to as the “Funded Property and Release Amendments”);
WHEREAS, in Section 5.01 of the Seventeenth Supplemental Indenture and Section 5.01 of the Nineteenth Supplemental Indenture, the Original Company reserved the right to amend the Indenture to delete all provisions in the Indenture which require a Net Earning Certificate, whether as a condition precedent to the authentication and delivery of bonds or otherwise (herein sometimes referred to as the “Net Earning Certificate Amendment”);
WHEREAS, in Section 5.02 of the Seventeenth Supplemental Indenture, each initial and future holder of bonds of the Twenty-first Series, by its acquisition of an interest in such bonds, irrevocably (a) consented to the Funded Property and Release Amendments and the Net Earning Certificate Amendment without any other or further action by any holder of such bonds, and (b) designated the Trustee, and its successors, as its proxy with irrevocable instructions to vote and deliver written consents on behalf of such holder in favor of such amendments at any bondholder meeting, in lieu of any bondholder meeting, in any consent solicitation or otherwise;
WHEREAS, in Section 5.02 of the Nineteenth Supplemental Indenture, each initial and future holder of bonds of the Twenty-second Series, by its acquisition of an interest in such bonds, irrevocably (a) consented to the Funded Property and Release Amendments and the Net Earning Certificate Amendment without any other or further action by any holder of such bonds, and (b) designated the Trustee, and its successors, as its proxy with irrevocable instructions to vote and deliver written consents on behalf of such holder in favor of such amendments at any bondholder meeting, in lieu of any bondholder meeting, in any consent solicitation or otherwise;
WHEREAS, in Section 5.01 of the Twentieth Supplemental Indenture, each initial and future holder of Bonds of the Twenty-third Series, by its acquisition of an interest in such bonds, irrevocably (a) consented to the Funded Property and Release Amendments and the Net Earning Certificate Amendment without any other or further action by any holder of such bonds, and (b) designated the Trustee, and its successors, as its proxy with irrevocable instructions to vote and deliver written consents on behalf of such holder in favor of such amendments at any bondholder meeting, in lieu of any bondholder meeting, in any consent solicitation or otherwise;
WHEREAS, the bonds of the Twenty-first, Twenty-second and Twenty-third Series constitute more than 84% of the aggregate principal amount of all bonds now Outstanding;
WHEREAS, Section 18.07 of the Original Indenture provides, among other things, that, subject to the provisions of Section 12.16 of the Indenture, any modification or alteration of the Indenture and/or of the rights and obligations of the Company and/or the rights of the holders of bonds may be made at a meeting of bondholders by resolution duly adopted by the affirmative vote of at least a majority in principal amount of the bonds Outstanding under the Indenture unless (a) the rights of one or more, but less than all, series of bonds then Outstanding are to be adversely affected by action taken at such meeting, (b) any Rate Recovery Mortgage bonds are Outstanding, or (c) such modification or amendment shall, without the consent of the
holder of any bond issued under the Indenture affected thereby (1) impair or affect the right of such holder to receive payment of the principal of (and premium, if any) and interest on such bond, on or after the respective due dates expressed in such bond, or to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment on or after such respective dates, or (2) permit the creation of any lien ranking prior to, or on a parity with, the Lien of the Indenture with respect to any of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property, or (3) permit the deprivation of any nonassenting bondholder of the benefit of a lien upon the Mortgaged and Pledged Property for the security of his bonds (subject only to the lien of taxes, assessments or governmental liens existing upon such property which are prior to the Lien of the Indenture at the date of the calling of any such bondholders’ meeting) or (4) permit the reduction of the percentage required by the provisions of Section 18.07 with respect to any bond Outstanding under the Indenture;
WHEREAS, Section 18.10 of the Original Indenture provides, among other things, that, anything in Article XVIII contained to the contrary notwithstanding, the Trustee shall receive the written consent (in any number of instruments of similar tenor executed by the bondholders or by their attorneys appointed in writing) of the holders of bonds Outstanding under the Indenture, the affirmative vote or votes of which would otherwise be required by Section 18.07 of the Indenture (in all cases, at the time the last such needed consent is delivered to the Trustee), in lieu of the holding of a meeting pursuant to Article XVIII of the Indenture and in lieu of all action at such a meeting and with the same force and effect as a resolution duly adopted in accordance with the provisions of Section 18.07 of the Indenture;
WHEREAS, Section 12.16 of the Original Indenture provides, among other things, that notwithstanding any other provision of the Indenture, the right of any holder of any bond to receive payment of the principal of and interest on such bond, or to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment on or after such respective dates, shall not be impaired or affected without the consent of such holder;
WHEREAS, the Company may now effect the Funded Property and Release Amendments and the Net Earning Certificate Amendment because (a) the Trustee has received the written consent to such amendments of the holders of at least a majority of the bonds now Outstanding as set forth in Section 5.02 of the Seventeenth Supplemental Indenture, Section 5.02 of the Nineteenth Supplemental Indenture and Section 5.01 of the Twentieth Supplemental Indenture, (b) such amendments affect the rights of all series of bonds now Outstanding, (c) no Rate Recovery Bonds are now Outstanding; and (d) such amendments do not (1) impair or affect the right of any holder to receive payment of the principal of (and premium, if any) and interest on any bonds held by it, on or after the respective due dates expressed in such bond, or to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment on or after such respective dates, or (2) permit the creation of any lien ranking prior to, or on a parity with, the Lien of the Indenture with respect to any of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property, or (3) permit the deprivation of any nonassenting bondholder of the benefit of a lien upon the Mortgaged and Pledged Property for the security of his bonds (subject only to the lien of taxes, assessments or governmental liens existing upon such property which are prior to the Lien of the Indenture at the date of the calling of any such bondholders’ meeting) or (4) permit the reduction of the percentage required by the provisions of Section 18.07 with respect to any bond Outstanding under the Indenture;
WHEREAS, Section 19.04 of the Original Indenture provides, among other things, that any power, privilege or right expressly or impliedly reserved to or in any way conferred upon the Company by any provision of the Indenture, whether such power, privilege or right is in any way restricted or is unrestricted, may be in whole or in part waived or surrendered or subjected to any restriction if at the time unrestricted, or to additional restriction if already restricted, and the Company may enter into any further covenants, limitations, restrictions or provisions for the benefit of any one or more series of bonds issued thereunder by an instrument in writing executed and acknowledged by the Company in such manner as would be necessary to entitle a conveyance of real estate to be recorded in all of the states in which any property at the time subject to the Lien of the Indenture shall be situated; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to and in accordance with said Sections 15.01, 15.02, 18.07, 18.10 and 19.04 of the Indenture, the Company now desires to execute with the Trustee and to cause to be recorded an indenture of the tenor aforesaid; and
WHEREAS, the execution, delivery and recordation by the Company of this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture have been duly authorized by the Board of Directors of the Company by appropriate Resolutions of said Board of Directors; and
WHEREAS, all things necessary to make this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture a valid, binding and legal instrument have been performed;
NOW, THEREFORE, THIS TWENTY-FIRST SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE WITNESSETH: That ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS POWER, LLC, in consideration of the premises and of Ten Dollars ($10) to it duly paid by the Trustee at or before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and in order to secure the payment of both the principal of and interest and premium, if any, on the bonds from time to time issued under the Indenture, according to their tenor and effect and the performance of all provisions of the Indenture (including any modification made as in the Indenture provided) and of said bonds, and in compliance with, in satisfaction of and pursuant to the provisions of Sections 15.01 and 15.02 of the Indenture, (A) hereby assumes and agrees to pay, duly and punctually, the principal of, and interest and premium, if any, on the bonds issued and now outstanding under the Indenture in accordance with the provisions of said bonds and of any appurtenant coupons and of the Indenture, and agrees to duly and punctually observe, perform and fulfill all the covenants and conditions of the Indenture to be kept or performed by the Original Company thereunder; and (B) hereby grants, bargains, sells, releases, conveys, assigns, transfers, mortgages, hypothecates, affects, pledges, sets over and confirms (subject, however, to Excepted Encumbrances as defined in Section 1.06 of the Indenture) unto THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, as Trustee under the Indenture, and to its successor or successors in said trust, and to said Trustee and its successors and assigns forever, (a) all of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property acquired by the Company from the Original Company pursuant to the 2017 Transfer Documents (including, but not limited to, (1) all rights, legal and equitable, of the Original Company (whether in accordance with Paragraph 32 of that certain Resolution No. R-86-112, adopted by the Council of the City of New Orleans on March 20, 1986 and accepted by the Original Company on March 25, 1986, as superseded by Resolution No. R-91-157, effective October 4, 1991, or pursuant to other regulatory authorization or by operation of law or otherwise), in the event of the purchase and acquisition by the City of New Orleans (or any other governmental authority or instrumentality or designee thereof) of properties and assets of the Company, to recover and receive payment and compensation from the City (or from such other governmental authority or instrumentality or designee thereof or any other person) of an amount equal to the aggregate uncollected balance of (A) the deferrals of Grand Gulf 1 Costs (as defined in the Original Indenture) and the deferred carrying charges accrued thereon that have accumulated prior to the City or such other entity providing official notice to the Company of the City’s or such other entity’s intent to effect such purchase and acquisition and (B) if and to the extent that the City or such other entity and the Company agree that the City or such other entity is liable for all or a portion of the aggregate uncollected balance of such deferrals accumulating thereafter or a court of final resort so holds, such deferrals that have accumulated subsequent to such notice (said rights of the Company, together with the proceeds and products thereof, being defined in the Original Indenture as the “Municipalization Interest”); and (2) all properties of the Original Company specifically described in Article V hereof) and improvements, extensions and additions thereto and renewals and replacements thereof, (b) the property made and used by the Company as the basis under any of the provisions of the Indenture for the authentication and delivery of additional bonds or the withdrawal of cash or the release of property, (c) such franchises, repairs and additional property as may be acquired, made or constructed by the Company (1) to maintain, renew and preserve the franchises covered by the Indenture, or (2) to maintain the property
mortgaged and intended to be mortgaged under the Indenture, as an operating system or systems in good repair, working order and condition, or (3) in rebuilding or renewal of property, subject to the Lien of the Indenture, damaged or destroyed, or (4) in replacement of or substitution for machinery, apparatus, equipment, frames, towers, poles, wire, pipe, rails, ties, switches, tools, implements and furniture, subject to the Lien of the Indenture, which shall have become old, inadequate, obsolete, worn out, unfit, unadapted, unserviceable, undesirable or unnecessary for use in the operation of the property mortgaged and intended to be mortgaged under the Indenture, and (d) all other property, real, personal and mixed, acquired by the Company after the effective time of the 2017 Transfer (except any herein or in the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented, expressly excepted), now owned or, subject to the provisions of Section 15.03 of the Indenture, hereafter acquired by the Company (by purchase, consolidation, merger, donation, construction, erection or in any other way) and wheresoever situated, including (without in anywise limiting or impairing by the enumeration of the same the scope and intent of the foregoing or of any general description contained herein or in the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented) all real estate, lands, easements, servitudes, licenses, permits, franchises, privileges, rights of way and other rights in or relating to real estate or the occupancy of the same; all power sites, flowage rights, water rights, water locations, water appropriations, ditches, flumes, reservoirs, reservoir sites, canals, raceways, waterways, dams, dam sites, aqueducts, and all other rights or means for appropriating, conveying, storing and supplying water; all rights of way and roads; all plants for the generation of electricity by steam, water and/or other power; all power houses, gas plants, street lighting systems, standards and other equipment incidental thereto; all telephone, radio and television systems, air-conditioning systems, and equipment incidental thereto, water wheels, water works, water systems, steam heat and hot water plants, substations, electric, gas and water lines, service and supply systems, bridges, culverts, tracks, ice or refrigeration plants and equipment, offices, buildings and other structures and the equipment thereof; all machinery, engines, boilers, dynamos, turbines, electric, gas and other machines, prime movers, regulators, meters, transformers, generators (including, but not limited to, engine driven generators and turbogenerator units), motors, electrical, gas and mechanical appliances, conduits, cables, water, steam heat, gas or other pipes, gas mains and pipes, service pipes, fittings, valves and connections, pole and transmission lines, towers, overhead conductors and devices, underground conduits, underground conductors and devices, wires, cables, tools, implements, apparatus, storage battery equipment, and all other fixtures and personalty; all municipal and other franchises, consents or permits; all lines for the transmission and distribution of electric current, gas, steam heat or water for any purpose including towers, poles, wires, cables, pipes, conduits, ducts and all apparatus for use in connection therewith and (except as herein or in the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented, expressly excepted) all the rights, title and interest of the Company in and to all other property of any kind or nature appertaining to and/or used and/or occupied and/or enjoyed in connection with any property herein or in the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented, described.
TOGETHER WITH all and singular the tenements, hereditaments, prescriptions, servitudes and appurtenances belonging or in anywise appertaining to the aforesaid property or any part thereof, with the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders and (subject to the provisions of Section 11.01 of the Original Indenture) the tolls, rents, revenues, issues, earnings, income, product and profits thereof, and all the estate, right, title and interest and claim whatsoever, at law as well as in equity, which the Company now has or may hereafter acquire in and to the aforesaid property, rights and franchises and every part and parcel thereof.
IT IS HEREBY AGREED by the Company that, subject to the provisions of Section 15.03 of the Original Indenture, all the property, rights and franchises acquired by the Company (by purchase, consolidation, merger, donation, construction, erection or in any other way and including real property and interests situated in Louisiana, Arkansas and elsewhere) after the date hereof, except any herein or in the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented, expressly excepted, shall be and are as fully granted and conveyed hereby and as fully embraced within the Lien of the Original Indenture and the Lien hereof as if
such property, rights and franchises were now owned by the Company and were specifically described herein and granted and conveyed hereby.
PROVIDED that, except as provided herein and in the Original Indenture with respect to the Municipalization Interest, the following are not and are not intended to be now or hereafter granted, bargained, sold, released, conveyed, assigned, transferred, mortgaged, hypothecated, affected, pledged, set over or confirmed hereunder, nor is a security interest therein hereby or by the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented, granted or intended to be granted, and the same are hereby expressly excepted from the Lien of the Indenture and the operation of this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture, viz.: (1) cash, shares of stock, bonds, notes and other obligations and other securities not heretofore or hereafter specifically pledged, paid, deposited, delivered or held hereunder or covenanted so to be; (2) merchandise, equipment, apparatus, materials or supplies held for the purpose of sale or other disposition in the usual course of business or for the purpose of repairing or replacing (in whole or part) any rolling stock, buses, motor coaches, automobiles and other vehicles or aircraft or boats, ships, or other vessels and any fuel, oil and similar materials and supplies consumable in the operation of any of the properties of the Company; rolling stock, buses, motor coaches, automobiles and other vehicles and all aircraft; boats, ships and other vessels; all timber, minerals, mineral rights and royalties; (3) bills, notes and other instruments and accounts receivable, judgments, demands, general intangibles and choses in action, and all contracts, leases and operating agreements not specifically pledged hereunder or under the Original Indenture or covenanted so to be; (4) the last day of the term of any lease or leasehold which may hereafter become subject to the Lien of the Indenture; (5) electric energy, gas, water, steam, ice, and other materials or products generated, manufactured, produced or purchased by the Company for sale, distribution or use in the ordinary course of its business; (6) any natural gas wells or natural gas leases or natural gas transportation lines or other works or property used primarily and principally in the production of natural gas or its transportation, primarily for the purpose of sale to natural gas customers or to a natural gas distribution or pipeline company, up to the point of connection with any distribution system; (7) the Company’s franchise to be a corporation; and (8) any property heretofore released pursuant to any provisions of the Indenture; provided, however, that the property and rights expressly excepted from the Lien and operation of the Indenture in the above subdivisions (2) and (3) shall (to the extent permitted by law) cease to be so excepted in the event and as of the date that the Trustee or a receiver or trustee shall enter upon and take possession of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property in the manner provided in Article XII of the Original Indenture by reason of the occurrence of a Default.
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD all such properties, real, personal and mixed, granted, bargained, sold, released, conveyed, assigned, transferred, mortgaged, hypothecated, affected, pledged, set over or confirmed or in which a security interest has been granted by the Company as aforesaid, or intended so to be (subject, however, to Excepted Encumbrances as defined in Section 1.06 of the Indenture), unto (to the extent of its legal capacity to hold the same for the purposes hereof) THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, and its successors and assigns forever.
IN TRUST NEVERTHELESS, for the same purposes and upon the same terms, trusts and conditions and subject to and with the same provisos and covenants as are set forth in the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented, this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture being supplemental thereto.
AND IT IS HEREBY COVENANTED by the Company that all the terms, conditions, provisos, covenants and provisions contained in the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented, shall affect and apply to the property hereinbefore and hereinafter described and conveyed and to the estate, rights, obligations and duties of the Company and the Trustee and the beneficiaries of the trust with respect to said property, and to the Trustee and its successors as Trustee of said property in the same manner and with the same effect as if said property had been owned by the Company at the time of the execution of the Original Indenture and had been specifically and at length described in and conveyed to said Trustee by the Original Indenture as a part of the property therein stated to be conveyed.
The Company further covenants and agrees to and with the Trustee and its successor or successors in said trust under the Indenture, as follows:
ARTICLE I
DEFINITIONS AND RULES OF CONSTRUCTION
Section 1.01
Terms From the Original Indenture and First through Twentieth Supplemental Indentures
. All defined terms used in this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture and not otherwise defined herein shall have the respective meanings ascribed to them in the Original Indenture or the First through the Twentieth Supplemental Indentures, as the case may be.
ARTICLE II
AMENDMENTS
Section 2.01
Funded Property
. The holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the bonds Outstanding under the Indenture having consented to the amendments set forth in Section 5.01 of Article V of the Sixteenth Supplemental Indenture, the Company hereby exercises its right to amend Section 1.05 of the Indenture to replace the first two paragraphs thereof with three paragraphs reading as follows:
“Section 1.05.
The term “Funded Property Certificate” shall mean an Independent Engineer’s Certificate delivered to the Trustee, within ninety days after the date thereof,
(A) stating the aggregate principal amount of bonds then Outstanding under this Indenture;
(B) stating the aggregate principal amount of bonds which the Company is then entitled to have authenticated and delivered by compliance with the provisions of Section 6.01 hereof;
(C) stating an amount equal to 10/7 of the sum of the amounts stated in clauses (A) and (B) above;
(D) describing all or any portion of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property which, in the opinion of the signers, has an aggregate fair value not less than the amount stated in clause (C) above.
The term “Funded Property” shall mean:
(1) all Mortgaged and Pledged Property described in the most recent Funded Property Certificate delivered to the Trustee;
(2) all Property Additions to the extent that the same shall have been made the basis of the authentication and delivery of bonds under this Indenture after the date of the most recent Funded Property Certificate delivered to the Trustee;
(3) all Property Additions to the extent that the same shall have been made the basis of the release of property from the Lien of this Indenture after the date of the most recent Funded Property Certificate delivered to the Trustee, subject, however, to the provisions of Section 11.03 hereof;
(4) all Property Additions to the extent that the same shall have been substituted (otherwise than under the release or cash withdrawal provisions hereof) for Funded Property retired after the date of the most recent Funded Property Certificate delivered to the Trustee; and
(5) all Property Additions to the extent that the same shall have been made the basis of the withdrawal of any Funded Cash as hereinafter defined after the date of the most recent Funded Property Certificate delivered to the Trustee, except to the extent that any such Property Additions shall no longer be deemed to be Funded Property in accordance with the provisions of other Sections of this Indenture.
In the event that in any certificate filed with the Trustee in connection with any of the transactions referred to in clauses (2), (3) and (5) of this Section only a part of the Cost or fair value of the Property Additions described in such certificate shall be required for the purposes of such certificate, then such Property Additions shall be deemed to be Funded Property only to the extent so required for the purpose of such certificate.”
The foregoing amendment shall not become effective until the Company shall have delivered a Funded Property Certificate to the Trustee.
Section 2.02.
Disposition of Released Property Not Required
. The holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the bonds Outstanding under the Indenture having consented to the amendments set forth in Section 5.02 of Article V of the Sixteenth Supplemental Indenture, the Company hereby exercises its right to amend clause (a) of subdivision (2) of Section 11.03 of the Indenture to read as follows:
“(a) that the Company has decided to release from the Lien hereof the property to be released.”
Section 2.03.
Releases based on Purchase Money Mortgage Obligations
. The holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the bonds Outstanding under the Indenture having consented to the amendments set forth in Section 5.03 of Article V of the Sixteenth Supplemental Indenture, the Company hereby exercises its right to amend Section 11.03 of the Indenture to delete the clause at the end of subdivision (3) beginning with the words “provided, however, that (i) no obligations ....” and ending with the words “... under the 1944 Mortgage” and substituting therefor the following:
“provided, however, that no obligations secured by a purchase money mortgage upon any property being released from the Lien hereof shall be used as a credit in any application for such release unless the Company shall deliver to the Trustee a certificate or opinion of an engineer, appraiser or other expert as to the fair value of such purchase money mortgage obligations to the Company, and provided further, that if the fair value to the Company of such purchase money mortgage obligations and of all other securities (other than bonds authenticated and delivered hereunder) made the basis of any authentication and delivery of bonds hereunder, the withdrawal of any cash constituting part of the trust estate hereunder, or the release of any property or securities from the Lien hereof since the commencement of the then calendar year, as set forth in the certificates or opinions required by this clause, is ten per centum (10%) or more of the aggregate principal amount of the bonds at the time Outstanding under this Indenture, such certificate or opinion shall be made by an independent engineer, appraiser, or other expert; but such a certificate of an independent engineer, appraiser, or other expert shall not be required with respect to any purchase money mortgage obligations so deposited, if the fair value thereof to the Company as set forth in the certificate or opinion required by this clause is less than twenty-five thousand Dollars ($25,000) or less than one per centum (1%) of the aggregate principal amount of bonds at the time Outstanding under this Indenture.”
Section 2.04.
Releases based on Retired Bonds
. The holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the bonds Outstanding under the Indenture having consented to the amendments set forth in Section 5.04 of Article V of the Sixteenth Supplemental Indenture, the Company hereby exercises its right to amend clause (c) of subdivision (3) of Section 11.03 of the Indenture to read as follows:
“(c) X%, as hereinafter defined, of the principal amount of each bond or fraction of bond to the authentication and delivery of which the Company shall be entitled under the provisions of Section 6.01 hereof, by virtue of compliance with all applicable provisions of Section 6.01 (except as hereinafter in this Section otherwise provided); provided, however, that (except as hereinafter in this Section otherwise provided) the application for such release shall operate as a waiver by the Company of such right to the authentication and delivery of each such bond or fraction thereof on the basis of which right such property is released and to such extent no such bond or fraction thereof may thereafter be authenticated and delivered hereunder, and any Corresponding Retired Bonds, as hereinafter defined, shall be deemed to have been made the basis of the release of such property; for purposes of this clause (c), the following definitions shall apply:
The term “X%” shall mean the reciprocal of the percentage appearing in Section 5.03 of the Indenture at the time that the Corresponding Retired Bond, as hereinafter defined, was originally authenticated and delivered; and
The term “Corresponding Retired Bond” shall mean the bond or fraction of a bond selected by the Company to serve as the basis under the provisions of Section 6.01 of the Indenture for such right to the authentication and delivery of bond(s) or fraction of a bond so waived.”
Section 2.05.
Net Earning Certificates Not Required
. The holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the bonds Outstanding under the Indenture having consented to the amendment set forth in Section 5.01 of Article V of the Seventeenth Supplemental Indenture, and in Section 5.01 of Article V of the Nineteenth Supplemental Indenture, the Company hereby exercises its right to amend the Indenture to delete all provisions in the Indenture which require a Net Earning Certificate, whether as a condition precedent to the authentication and delivery of bonds or otherwise.
ARTICLE III
THE COMPANY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO AMEND
CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE INDENTURE
Section 3.01.
Limitation on Bondholder Suits
.
The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of bonds of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend Section 12.16 of the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, to change the word “hereunder” wherever it appears in the first paragraph of Section 12.16 of the Indenture to “under or with respect to this Indenture or the bonds”.
Section 3.02.
Excepted Encumbrances
. The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, as follows:
To amend Section 1.06 of the Indenture to read substantially as follows:
Section 1.06.
The term “Excepted Encumbrances” shall mean as of any particular time any of the following:
(a)
liens for taxes, assessments and other governmental charges or requirements which are not delinquent or which are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings or of which at least ten (10) Business Days notice has not been given to the general counsel of the Company or to such other Person designated by the Company to receive such notices;
(b)
mechanics’, workmen’s, repairmen’s, materialmen’s, warehousemen’s, and carriers’ liens, other liens incident to construction, liens or privileges of any employees of the Company for salary or wages earned, but not yet payable, and other liens, including without limitation liens for worker’s compensation awards, arising in the ordinary course of business for charges or requirements which are not delinquent or which are being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings or of which at least ten (10) Business Days notice has not been given to the general counsel of the Company or to such other Person designated by the Company to receive such notices;
(c)
liens in respect of attachments, judgments or awards arising out of judicial or administrative proceedings (i) in an amount not exceeding the greater of (A) Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000) and (B) three percent (3%) of the principal amount of the bonds then Outstanding or (ii) with respect to which the Company shall (X) in good faith be prosecuting an appeal or other proceeding for review and with respect to which the Company shall have secured a stay of execution pending such appeal or other proceeding or (Y) have the right to prosecute an appeal or other proceeding for review or (Z) have not received at least ten (10) Business Days notice given to the general counsel of the Company or to such other Person designated by the Company to receive such notices;
(d)
easements, leases, reservations or other rights of others in, on, over and/or across, and laws, regulations and restrictions affecting, and defects, irregularities, exceptions and limitations in title to, the Mortgaged and Pledged Property or any part thereof; provided, however, that such easements, leases, reservations, rights, laws, regulations, restrictions, defects, irregularities, exceptions and limitations do not in the aggregate materially impair the use by the Company of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property considered as a whole for the purposes for which it is held by the Company;
(e)
liens, defects, irregularities, exceptions and limitations in (i) title to real property subject to rights-of-way in favor of the Company or otherwise or used or to be used by the Company primarily for right-of-way purposes; (ii) real property held under lease, easement, license or similar right; or (iii) the rights-of-way, leases, easements, licenses or similar rights in favor of the Company; provided, however, that (A) the Company shall have obtained from the apparent owner or owners of such real property a sufficient right, by the terms of the instrument granting such right-of-way, lease, easement, license or similar right, to the use thereof for the purposes for which the Company acquired the same; (B) the Company has power under eminent domain or similar statutes to remove or subordinate such liens, defects, irregularities, exceptions or limitations or (C) such defects, irregularities, exceptions and limitations may be otherwise remedied without undue effort or expense; and defects, irregularities, exceptions and limitations in title to flood lands, flooding rights and/or water rights;
(f)
liens securing indebtedness or other obligations neither created, assumed nor guaranteed by the Company nor on account of which it customarily pays interest upon real property or rights in or relating to real property acquired by the Company for the purpose of the transmission or distribution of electric energy, gas or water, for the purpose of telephonic,
telegraphic, radio, wireless or other electronic communication or otherwise for the purpose of obtaining rights-of-way;
(g)
leases existing on [July 1, 2016] affecting properties owned by the Company at said date and renewals and extensions thereof; and leases affecting such properties entered into after such date or affecting properties acquired by the Company after such date which, in either case, (i) have respective terms of not more than ten (10) years (including extensions or renewals at the option of the tenant) or (ii) do not materially impair the use by the Company of such properties for the respective purposes for which they are held by the Company;
(h)
liens vested in lessors, licensors, franchisors or permitters for rent or other amounts to become due or for other obligations or acts to be performed, the payment of which rent or the performance of which other obligations or acts is required under leases, subleases, licenses, franchises or permits, so long as the payment of such rent or other amounts or the performance of such other obligations or acts is not delinquent or is being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings;
(i)
controls, restrictions, obligations, duties and/or other burdens imposed by federal, state, municipal or other law, or by rules, regulations or orders of Governmental Authorities, upon the Mortgaged and Pledged Property or any part thereof or the operation or use thereof or upon the Company with respect to the Mortgaged and Pledged Property or any part thereof or the operation or use thereof or with respect to any franchise, grant, license, permit or public purpose requirement, or any rights reserved to or otherwise vested in Governmental Authorities to impose any such controls, restrictions, obligations, duties and/or other burdens;
(j)
rights which Governmental Authorities may have by virtue of franchises, grants, licenses, permits or contracts, or by virtue of law, to purchase, recapture or designate a purchaser of or order the sale of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property or any part thereof, to terminate franchises, grants, licenses, permits, contracts or other rights or to regulate the property and business of the Company; and any and all obligations of the Company correlative to any such rights;
(k)
liens required by law or governmental regulations (i) as a condition to the transaction of any business or the exercise of any privilege or license, (ii) to enable the Company to maintain self-insurance or to participate in any funds established to cover any insurance risks, (iii) in connection with workmen’s compensation, unemployment insurance, social security, any pension or welfare benefit plan or (iv) to share in the privileges or benefits required for companies participating in one or more of the arrangements described in clauses (ii) and (iii) above;
(l)
liens on the Mortgaged and Pledged Property or any part thereof which are granted by the Company to secure duties or public or statutory obligations or to secure, or serve in lieu of, surety, stay or appeal bonds;
(m)
rights reserved to or vested in others to take or receive any part of any coal, ore, gas, oil and other minerals, any timber and/or any electric capacity or energy, gas, water, steam and any other products, developed, produced, manufactured, generated, purchased or otherwise acquired by the Company or by others on property of the Company;
(n)
(i) rights and interests of Persons other than the Company arising out of contracts, agreements and other instruments to which the Company is a party and which relate to
the common ownership or joint use of property; and (ii) all liens on the interests of Persons other than the Company in property owned in common by such Persons and the Company if and to the extent that the enforcement of such liens would not adversely affect the interests of the Company in such property in any material respect;
(o)
any restrictions on assignment and/or requirements of any assignee to qualify as a permitted assignee and/or public utility or public service corporation;
(p)
any liens which have been bonded for the full amount in dispute or for the payment of which other adequate security arrangements have been made;
(q)
any controls, liens, restrictions, regulations, easements, exceptions or reservations of any public authority or unit applying particularly to any form of space satellites (including but not limited to solar power satellites), space stations and other analogous facilities whether or not in the earth’s atmosphere;
(r)
rights and interests granted pursuant to Section 11.02;
(s)
any lien of the Trustee granted pursuant to Section 16.09; and
(t)
Prepaid Liens.
To add the following definitions to Section 1.02 of the Indenture:
The term “Business Day,” when used with respect to the place or places at which principal of and premium, if any, and interest, if any, on the bonds are payable or any other particular location specified in the bonds or this Indenture, shall mean any day, other than a Saturday or Sunday, that is not a day on which banking institutions or trust companies in such place of payment or other location are generally authorized or required by law, regulation or executive order to remain closed, except as may be otherwise specified in the bonds or in a supplemental indenture creating such bonds.
The term “Governmental Authority” shall mean the government of the United States or of any State or Territory thereof or of the District of Columbia or of any county, municipality or other political subdivision of any thereof, or any department, agency, authority or other instrumentality of any of the foregoing.
To add the following definitions to Section 1.03 of the Indenture:
The term “Person” shall mean any individual, Corporation, joint venture, trust or unincorporated organization or any Governmental Authority.
The term “Prepaid Liens” means any lien securing indebtedness for the payment of which money in the necessary amount shall have been irrevocably deposited in trust with the trustee or other holder of such lien; provided, however, that if such indebtedness is to be redeemed or otherwise prepaid prior to the stated maturity thereof, any notice requisite to such redemption or prepayment shall have been given in accordance with the mortgage or other instrument creating such lien or irrevocable instructions to give such notice shall have been given to such trustee or other holder.
Section 3.03.
Priority Opinions
. The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of bonds of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, as follows:
To restate subdivision (7) of Section 5.05 of the Indenture to read substantially as follows:
(7) either an Opinion of Counsel or an Officer’s Certificate complying with the requirements of Section 19.05 hereof and stating the signer’s opinion to the effect that:
(a)
(except as to paving, grading and other improvements to, under or upon public highways, bridges, parks or other public property of analogous character) this Indenture constitutes, or, upon the delivery of, and/or the filing and/or recording in the proper places and manner of, the instruments of conveyance, assignment or transfer, if any, specified in said opinion or certificate, will constitute, a lien on all the Property Additions to be made the basis of such application, subject to no lien thereon prior or equal to the Lien of this Indenture except Excepted Encumbrances and any other liens of which the signer of said opinion or certificate has no actual knowledge and which do not appear on a specified lien search report received by said signer not more than five (5) Business Days prior to the date of said opinion or certificate; and
(b)
the Company has corporate authority to operate such Property Additions; and
To add the following definition to Section 1.03 of the Indenture:
“Officer’s Certificate” means a certificate signed by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Vice Chairman, the President, any Vice President, the Treasurer, any Assistant Treasurer, or any other officer, manager or agent of the Company duly authorized pursuant to a resolution of the Board of Directors to act in respect of matters relating to this Indenture.
Section 3.04.
Dispositions, etc. without Release or Consent of Trustee
. The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of bonds of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, as follows:
To amend Section 11.02 of the Indenture to read substantially as follows:
Section 11.02.
Unless one of more of the Defaults defined in Section 12.01 hereof shall have occurred and be continuing, the Company may at any time and from time to time, without any release or consent by, or report to, the Trustee:
(1)
sell or otherwise dispose of, free from the lien of this Indenture, any machinery, equipment, apparatus, towers, transformers, poles, lines, cables, conduits, ducts, conductors, meters, regulators, holders, tanks, retorts, purifiers, odorizers, scrubbers, compressors, valves, pumps, mains, pipes, service pipes, fittings, connections, services, tools, implements, or any other fixtures or personalty, then subject to the lien hereof, which shall have become old, inadequate, obsolete, worn out, unfit, unadapted, unserviceable, undesirable or unnecessary for use in the operations of the Company upon replacing the same by, or substituting for the same, similar or analogous property, or other property performing a similar or analogous function or otherwise obviating the need therefor, having a fair value to the Company at least equal to that of the property sold or otherwise disposed of and subject to
the lien hereof, subject to no liens prior hereto except Excepted Encumbrances and any other liens to which the property sold or otherwise disposed of was subject;
(2)
cancel or make changes or alterations in or substitutions for any and all easements, servitudes, rights-of-way and similar rights and/or interests;
(3)
grant, free from the lien of this Indenture, easements, ground leases or rights-of-way in, upon, over and/or across the property or rights-of-way of the Company for the purpose of roads, pipe lines, transmission lines, distribution lines, communication lines, railways, removal or transportation of coal, lignite, gas, oil or other minerals or timber, and other like purposes, or for the joint or common use of real property, rights-of-way, facilities and/or equipment; provided, however, that such grant shall not materially impair the use of the property or rights-of-way for the purposes for which such property or rights-of-way are held by the Company;
(4)
terminate, abandon, surrender, cancel, release, modify or dispose of any franchises, licenses or permits that are Mortgaged and Pledged Property; provided that such action is, in the opinion of the Company, necessary, desirable or advisable in the conduct of the business of the Company, and; provided further that any franchises, licenses or permits that become Mortgaged and Pledged Property by the operation of granting clauses and thereafter, in the opinion of the Company, cease to be necessary for the operation of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property shall automatically cease to be subject to the lien of this Indenture, without any release or consent, or report to, the Trustee or either of them; and
(5)
rearrange any of its street car tracks and switches or reduce or permanently discontinue the operation of or remove or abandon any of its street or interurban railway lines or street or interurban transportation lines, if, in the judgment of the Board of Directors of the Company, any such action which affects the Mortgaged and Pledged Property is necessary or desirable in the conduct of the business of the Company or if the Company is ordered so to do by a regulatory authority having jurisdiction in the premises.
Section 3.05.
Release of Unfunded Property
. The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of bonds of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, as follows:
To amend clause (b) of subdivision (II)(1) of Section 11.04 of the Indenture to read substantially as follows:
(b) that the Company has decided to release from the Lien hereof the property to be released.
Section 3.06.
Statutory Mergers
. The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of bonds of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, as follows:
To amend Article XV of the Indenture to add a new section reading substantially as follows:
A statutory merger pursuant to which the assets and liabilities of the Company are allocated to one or more entities shall not be considered to be a merger subject to the provisions of this Article XV unless all of the assets and liabilities of the Company are allocated to an entity other than the Company and the Company does not survive such statutory merger. In all other cases of a statutory merger pursuant to which any Mortgaged and Pledged Property is allocated to one or more entities other than the Company, each allocation of any Mortgaged and Pledged Property to an entity other than the Company shall be deemed, for all purposes of this Indenture, to be a transfer of such Mortgaged and Pledged Property to such entity and not a merger.
Section 3.07.
Transfer of Less than Substantially All
. The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of bonds of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, as follows:
To amend Article XV of the Indenture to add a new section reading substantially as follows:
A conveyance, transfer or lease by the Company of any part of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property shall not be deemed to constitute the conveyance, transfer or lease as, or substantially as, an entirety of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property for purposes of this Indenture if the fair value of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property retained by the Company exceeds 143% of the aggregate principal amount of all Outstanding bonds issued under this Indenture and any other outstanding debt of the Company secured by a purchase money lien that ranks equally with, or senior to, such bonds with respect to such Mortgaged and Pledged Property. Such fair value shall be established by the delivery to the Trustee of an Independent Engineer’s Certificate stating the Independent Engineer’s opinion of such fair value as of a date not more than 90 days before or after such conveyance, transfer or lease. Article XV of this Indenture is not intended to limit the Company’s conveyances, transfers or leases of less than substantially the entirety of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property.
Section 3.08.
Merger into Company; Extent of Lien of the Indenture
. The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of bonds of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, as follows:
To amend Article XV of the Indenture to add a new section reading substantially as follows:
In the case of a consolidation or merger after the consummation of which the Company would be the surviving or resulting entity, unless an indenture supplemental hereto shall otherwise provide, this Indenture shall not become or be, or be required to become or be, a lien upon any of the properties acquired by the Company in or as a result of such transaction or any improvements, extensions or additions to such properties or any renewals, replacements or substitutions of or for any part or parts thereof.
Section 3.09.
Trustee Replacement
. The Company reserves the right, without any consent, vote or other action by holders of bonds of any series created after November 30, 2017, to amend the Indenture, as heretofore amended and supplemented, as follows:
To amend Section 16.19 of the Indenture to add a new paragraph at the end reading substantially as follows:
So long as no event which is, or after notice or lapse of time, or both, would become, a Default shall have occurred and be continuing, and except with respect to a Trustee appointed by the bondholders as provided in Section 16.15 hereof, if the Company shall have delivered to the Trustee (i) resolutions of the Board of Directors appointing a successor Trustee, effective as of a date specified therein (which shall be at least 30 days after the date of the delivery
of such resolutions to the Trustee), and (ii) an instrument of acceptance of such appointment, effective as of such date, by such successor Trustee in accordance with Section 16.17 hereof, the Trustee shall be deemed to have resigned as contemplated in Section 16.14 hereof, the successor Trustee shall be deemed to have been appointed by the Company pursuant to Section 16.15 hereof and such appointment shall be deemed to have been accepted as contemplated in Section 16.17 hereof, all as of such date, and all other provisions of Sections 16.14, 16.15 and 16.17 hereof shall be applicable to such resignation, appointment and acceptance except to the extent inconsistent with this paragraph.
Section 3.10.
Concerning the Trustee
. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall the Trustee be required to sign any amendment or supplemental indenture to give effect to any amendment contemplated under this Article III if such amendment or supplemental indenture, in the opinion of the Trustee, adversely affects the rights, duties, protections, indemnities, privileges, liabilities or immunities of the Trustee under the Indenture.
ARTICLE IV
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Section 4.01
Acceptance of Trusts
. The Trustee hereby accepts the trusts herein declared, provided, created or supplemented and agrees to perform the same upon the terms and conditions herein and in the Original Indenture, as heretofore supplemented, set forth and upon the following terms and conditions:
The Trustee shall not be responsible in any manner whatsoever for or in respect of the validity or sufficiency of this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture or for or in respect of the recitals contained herein, all of which recitals are solely made by the Company. In general, each and every term and condition contained in Article XVI of the Original Indenture shall apply to and form part of this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture with the same force and effect as if the same were herein set forth in full with such omissions, variations and insertions, if any, as may be appropriate to make the same conform to the provisions of this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture.
Section 4.02
Effect of Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture under Louisiana Law
. It is the intention and it is hereby agreed that so far as concerns that portion of the Mortgaged and Pledged Property situated within the State of Louisiana, the general language of conveyance contained in this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture is intended and shall be construed as words of hypothecation and not of conveyance, and that so far as the said Louisiana property is concerned, this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture shall be considered as an act of mortgage and pledge and granting of a security interest under the laws of the State of Louisiana, and the Trustee herein named is named as mortgagee and pledgee and secured party in trust for the benefit of itself and of all present and future holders of bonds issued under the Indenture and any coupons thereto issued hereunder, and is irrevocably appointed special agent and representative of the holders of such bonds and coupons and vested with full power in their behalf to effect and enforce the mortgage and pledge and a security interest hereby constituted for their benefit, or otherwise to act as herein provided for.
Section 4.03
Titles
. The titles of the several Articles and Sections of this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture shall not be deemed to be any part hereof.
Section 4.04
Counterparts
. This Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture may be executed in several counterparts, each of which shall be an original and all of which shall constitute but one and the same instrument.
Section 4.05
Governing Law
. The laws of the State of New York shall govern this Twenty-first Supplemental Indenture, except to the extent that the validity or perfection of the Lien of the Indenture, or remedies thereunder, are governed by the laws of a jurisdiction other than the State of New York.
ARTICLE V
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY
PARAGRAPH ONE
The Electric Generating Plants, Plant Sites and Stations of the Original Company, including all electric works, power houses, buildings, pipelines and structures owned by the Original Company and all land of the Original Company on which the same are situated and all of the Original Company’s lands, together with the buildings and improvements thereon, and all rights, ways, servitudes, prescriptions, and easements, rights-of-way, permits, privileges, licenses, poles, wires, machinery, implements, switchyards, electric lines, equipment and appurtenances, forming a part of said plants, sites or stations, or any of them, or used or enjoyed, or capable of being used or enjoyed in conjunction with any of said power plants, sites, stations, lands and property.
PARAGRAPH TWO
The Electric Substations, Switching Stations, Microwave installations and UHF-VHF installations of the Original Company, and the Sites therefor, including all buildings, structures, towers, poles, all equipment, appliances and devices for transforming, converting, switching, transmitting and distributing electric energy, and for communications, and the lands of the Original Company on which the same are situated, and all of the Original Company’s lands, rights, ways, servitudes, prescriptions, easements, rights-of-way, machinery, equipment, appliances, devices, licenses and appurtenances forming a part of said substations, switching stations, microwave installations or UHF-VHF installations, or any of them, or used or enjoyed or capable of being used or enjoyed in conjunction with any of them.
PARAGRAPH THREE
All and singular the Miscellaneous Lands and Real Estate or Rights and Interests therein of the Original Company, and buildings and improvements thereon, now owned, or, subject to the provisions of Section 15.03 of the Original Indenture, hereafter acquired during the existence of this trust.
PARAGRAPH FOUR
The Electric Transmission Lines of the Original Company, including the structures, towers, poles, wires, cables, switch racks, conductors, transformers, insulators, pipes, conduits, electric submarine cables, and all appliances, devices and equipment used or useful in connection with said transmission lines and systems, and all other property, real, personal or mixed, forming a part thereof or appertaining thereto, together with all rights-of-way, easements, prescriptions, servitudes, permits, privileges, licenses, consents, immunities and rights for or relating to the construction, maintenance or operation thereof, through, over, across, under or upon any public streets or highways or other lands, public or private.
PARAGRAPH FIVE
The Electric Distribution Lines and Systems of the Original Company, including the structures, towers, poles, wires, insulators and appurtenances, appliances, conductors, conduits, cables, transformers, meters, regulator stations and regulators, accessories, devices and equipment and all of the Original Company's other property, real, personal or mixed, forming a part of or used, occupied or enjoyed in connection with or in anywise appertaining to said distribution lines and systems, together with all of the Original Company’s rights-of-way, easements, permits, prescriptions, privileges, municipal or other franchises, licenses, consents, immunities and rights for or relating to the construction, maintenance or operation thereof, through, over, across, under, or upon any public streets or highways or other lands or property, public or private.
PARAGRAPH SIX
The Gas Distributing Systems of the Original Company, whether now owned or, subject to the provisions of Section 15.03 of the Original Indenture, hereafter acquired, including gas regulator stations, gas main crossings, odorizing equipment, gas metering stations, shops, service buildings, office buildings, expansion tanks, conduits, gas mains and pipes, mechanical storage sheds, boilers, service pipes, fittings, city gates, pipelines, booster stations, reducer stations, valves, valve platforms, connections, meters and all appurtenances, appliances, devices and equipment and all the Original Company's other property, real, personal or mixed forming a part of or used, occupied or enjoyed in connection with or in anywise appertaining to said distributing systems, or any of them, together with all of the Original Company’s rights-of-way, easements, prescriptions, servitudes, privileges, immunities, permits and franchises, licenses, consents and rights for or relating to the construction, maintenance or operation thereof, in, on, through, across or under any public streets or highways or other lands or property, public or private.
PARAGRAPH SEVEN
All of the franchises, privileges, permits, grants and consents for the construction, operation and maintenance of electric and gas systems in, on and under streets, alleys, highways, roads, public grounds and rights-of-way and all rights incident thereto which were granted to the Original Company or its predecessors by the governing and regulatory bodies of the City of New Orleans, State of Louisiana.
Also all other franchises, privileges, permits, grants and consents owned by the Original Company for the construction, operation and maintenance of electric and gas systems in, on or under the streets, alleys, highways, roads, and public grounds, areas and rights-of-way and/or for the supply and sale of electricity or natural gas and all rights incident thereto, subject, however, to the provisions of Section 15.03 of the Original Indenture.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS POWER, LLC has caused its company name to be hereunto affixed, and this instrument to be signed and sealed by its President, one of its Vice Presidents, its Treasurer or one of its Assistant Treasurers, and its company seal to be attested by its Secretary or one of its Assistant Secretaries for and on its behalf, and THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON has caused its corporate name to be hereunto affixed, and this instrument to be signed and sealed by one of its Vice Presidents or Assistant Vice Presidents and its corporate seal to be attested by one of its Vice Presidents, Assistant Vice Presidents, Assistant Treasurers or Assistant Secretaries for and on its behalf, all as of the day and year first above written.
ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS POWER, LLC
By:
/s/ Stacey M. Lousteau
Name:
Stacey M. Lousteau
Title:
Assistant Treasurer
Attest:
By:
/s/ Dawn A. Balash
Name:
Dawn A. Balash
Title:
Assistant Secretary
Executed, sealed and delivered by
ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS POWER, LLC
in the presence of:
By:
/s/ Leah W. Dawsey
Name: Leah W. Dawsey
By:
/s/ Shannon K. Ryerson
Name: Shannon K. Ryerson
THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON
As Trustee
By:
/s/ Laurence J. O’Brien
Name: Laurence J. O’Brien
Title:
Vice President
Attest:
By:
/s/ David O’Brien
Name:
David O’Brien
Title:
Vice President
Executed, sealed and delivered by
THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON
in the presence of:
By:
/s/ Marcela Alvarez
Name: Marcela Alvarez
By:
/s/ Filippo Triolo
Name: Filippo Triolo
STATE OF LOUISIANA )
) SS.:
PARISH OF ORLEANS )
On this ---9th day of November, 2017, before me appeared STACEY M. LOUSTEAU, to me personally known, who, being duly sworn, did say that she is an Assistant Treasurer of ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS POWER, LLC, and that the seal affixed to said instrument is the company seal of said company, and that the foregoing instrument was signed and sealed in behalf of said company by authority of its Board of Directors, and said STACEY M. LOUSTEAU acknowledged said instrument to be the free act and deed of said company and that she signed, executed and delivered the said instrument for the consideration, uses and purposes therein mentioned and set forth.
On the 9th day of November, 2017, before me personally came STACEY M. LOUSTEAU, to me known, who, being by me duly sworn, did depose and say that she resides at 1013 Pasadena Avenue, Metairie, Louisiana 70001; that she is an Assistant Treasurer of ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS POWER, LLC, one of the parties described in and which executed the above instrument; that she knows the seal of said company, that the seal affixed to said instrument is such company seal; that it was so affixed by order of the Board of Directors of said company, and that she signed her name thereto by like order.
/s/ Jennifer B. Favalora
Notary Public
Jennifer B. Favalora
Louisiana Notary ID No. 57639
Commission expires upon my death
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
)
) ss.:
COUNTY OF
PASSAIC
)
On this 21st day of November, 2017, before me appeared Laurence J. O’Brien, to me personally known or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence and, who, being by me duly sworn, did say that he is a Vice President of THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, and that the seal affixed to the above instrument is the corporate seal of said corporation and that said instrument was signed and sealed in behalf of said corporation by authority of its Board of Directors, and said Laurence J. O’Brien acknowledged said instrument to be the free act and deed of said corporation and that he signed, executed and delivered the said instrument for the consideration, uses and purposes therein mentioned and set forth.
On the 21st day of November, 2017, before me personally came David O’Brien, to me known or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence and, who, being by me duly sworn, did depose and say that he resides in Montclair, New Jersey; that he is a Vice President of THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, one of the parties described in and which executed the above instrument; that he knows the seal of said corporation; that the seal affixed to said instrument is such corporate seal, that it was so affixed by order of the Board of Directors of said corporation, and that he signed his name thereto by like order.
/s/ Rick J. Fierro
Notary Public
State of New Jersey
My Commission Expires
Nov. 24, 2019