§37-14-12. Judicial determination of legality, etc., of article - Contents of complaint; order and notice of hearing to show cause; intervention.

(a) The complaint by appropriate allegations, references and/or exhibits shall briefly state the following: the authority for the purchase and sale of distribution facilities and other transactions and restrictions under this article; the nature of any franchise heretofore issued by a municipality which will be affected; a general description of restrictions imposed by this article; the proposed date when the purchase and sale or other transaction is to be effective, and the impact which such restrictions and sale shall have on the parties and the public.

(b) The judge of said court shall, upon the filing and presentation of said complaint, issue an order against the citizens of the state, and other defendants requiring them to show cause, at a time and place to be designated in said order, which time shall be not less than 35 days nor more than 56 days after the issuance of such order, and which place shall be within Montgomery County, why said purchase and sales and the other transactions and restrictions and all other proceedings under this article should not be validated and confirmed.

(c) The Attorney General of the State of Alabama shall be the designated representative of the citizens of the State of Alabama and shall appear on their behalf for all purposes in any proceeding brought pursuant to this section.

(d) Prior to the hearing of said cause, the clerk of said court shall publish, in a newspaper of general circulation published in Montgomery County, once each week for at least three weeks before the hearing, the first publication which would be at least 21 days before such hearing, a notice addressed to the citizens of the State of Alabama requiring them, at the time and place specified in the order providing for the hearing of such case, to show cause, if any there be, why said purchase and sale or other transaction and restriction that may be referred to in the complaint should not be validated and confirmed. In addition, the clerk of said court shall also publish notice to the citizens of the state in newspapers of general circulation customarily published not less often than five days during each calendar week in the Cities of Andalusia, Birmingham, Dothan, Florence, Gadsden, Huntsville, Mobile, Selma and Tuscaloosa. By the publication of such notice, all citizens of the state shall become parties defendant to such proceedings, and the court shall have jurisdiction of them the same as if each of them were named individually as party defendants in said complaint and personally served with process.

(e) In addition to the publication and notice set forth in subsection (d) of this section, the clerk of the Circuit Court in Montgomery County shall also cause a summons and complaint to be served upon the Attorney General of the State of Alabama as representative of all citizens of the State of Alabama and upon all other parties named as defendants in the action.

(f) The plaintiff shall certify to the court, in writing, with an attached list, that it has mailed a copy, by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the complaint filed in the action to each other electric supplier in the state, as defined in this article. Said notice to said electric suppliers shall inform them of the time and place of the hearing and shall contain a copy of the complaint filed herein. The notice required by this paragraph shall be mailed not less than 21 days prior to the date set for the hearing.

(g) Each electric supplier which receives notice pursuant to the provisions set forth in subsection (f) above, or which receives notice in any manner whatsoever of this action, may petition the court, as a matter of right, to intervene in said action and to participate in the hearing provided for in subsection (f) above.

(h) The failure of any electric supplier, municipality and/or governmental unit to exercise the right to intervene and participate in the hearing shall be deemed a waiver of any right such electric supplier, municipality or governmental unit may have to participate and to challenge, contest or otherwise question the validity of any purchase, sale and/or transaction made or proposed to be made pursuant to this article or to challenge the validity of any of the provisions of this article.

(Acts 1984, No. 84-206, p. 314, §9.)