69-8-215. Ratepayer and shareholder protection. (1) Rates established pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, part 3, may not allow for the recovery of any portion of a civil judgment in a lawsuit arising out of litigation brought by the shareholders of a predecessor in interest against:

(a) the predecessor in interest;

(b) the officers or directors of the predecessor in interest;

(c) the legal advisers or consultants to the predecessor in interest; or

(d) any successor of the predecessor in interest, including a successor in interest.

(2) (a) Subject to subsection (3), an entity subject to regulation under Title 69, including the entity's subsidiaries and affiliates, may not be made a party to litigation brought by the shareholders of a predecessor in interest against:

(i) the predecessor in interest;

(ii) the officers or directors of the predecessor in interest;

(iii) the legal advisers or consultants to the predecessor in interest; or

(iv) any successor of the predecessor in interest that is not a successor in interest.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (3), an entity subject to regulation under Title 69 may not be held liable for a civil judgment entered against:

(i) a predecessor in interest;

(ii) the officers or directors of a predecessor in interest;

(iii) the legal advisers or consultants to a predecessor in interest; or

(iv) any successor of a predecessor in interest that is not a successor in interest.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply:

(a) to a successor of a public utility regulated by the public service commission pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, on May 2, 1997, whose shareholders received stock as a result of the sale of a public utility; or

(b) if the liabilities resulting from, related to, or arising out of a reorganization, restructuring, or plan of merger were explicitly assumed by written contract to be the liabilities of the successor to the predecessor in interest.

(4) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "predecessor in interest" means a public utility regulated by the commission pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, on May 2, 1997, in which an interest was purchased through an arm's-length transaction in which the market value of the public utility property purchased was paid for in cash, debt assumption, or a combination of cash and debt assumption; and

(b) "successor in interest" means the purchaser of all or a portion of a public utility regulated by the commission pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, on May 2, 1997, through an arm's-length transaction in which the market value of the public utility property purchased was paid for in cash, debt assumption, or a combination of cash and debt assumption.