I. Any retail electric customer located within a municipality that has established a municipal electric utility after July 1, 1997, but who is not within the service area of such utility, shall not be responsible for, and no entity may require the customer to pay, through taxes or otherwise, any costs associated with such utility except for electric power and services consumed directly by the municipality, and any electric power and services sold by the utility to the customer.
II. Any retail electric customer located within the service area of a municipal electric utility established after July 1, 1997, who does not purchase generation services by or acquired through such municipal electric utility, as allowed by N.H. Rev. Stat. § 38:34, shall not be responsible for, and no entity may require the customer to pay, through taxes or otherwise, any costs of generation services from such municipal electric utility, except for electric power consumed directly by the municipality. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent any property owners or retail electric customers from signing contracts of any duration with such municipal electric utility after retail electric competition is certified to exist pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 38:36, and being bound by their terms, including damages for termination.
III. If any municipal electric utility acquires existing plant and equipment used for the generation of electric power, the municipal electric utility shall make payments in lieu of property taxes in the amount that the plant and equipment would have paid taxes if they had been owned by a private owner. Such payments in lieu of taxes shall be included in “costs of generation services” as provided in paragraph II.