(a) Nothing in this subchapter shall be deemed to confer upon the Arkansas Public Service Commission power or jurisdiction to regulate or supervise the rates, service, or securities of any person not otherwise subject to the Arkansas Public Service Commission's jurisdiction.

(b) The Arkansas Public Service Commission, in the discharge of its duties under this subchapter or any other act, is authorized to make joint investigations, hold joint hearings in or outside the state, and to issue joint or concurrent orders in conjunction or concurrence with any official or agency of any other state or of the United States, whether in the holding of such investigations or hearings or in the making of such orders the Arkansas Public Service Commission functions under agreements or compacts between states or under the concurrent power of states to regulate interstate commerce, or as an agency of the United States, or otherwise.

(c) In the discharge of its duties under this subchapter, the Arkansas Public Service Commission is further authorized to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts with agencies of other states, pursuant to any consent of the United States Congress, for cooperative efforts in certification, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of major utility facilities in accord with the purposes of this subchapter and for the enforcement of the respective state laws regarding them.

(d) The Arkansas Public Service Commission is deemed to be the agency of the State of Arkansas that shall be the member of any regional hearing authority or commission created by the terms of any compact between Arkansas and other states or between Arkansas and the United States otherwise concerning the implementation of this subchapter, except as may be provided by §§ 23-18-505 and 23-18-506.

(e) It is the intent of the General Assembly to confer upon the Arkansas Public Service Commission, under this subchapter, broad rule-making authority adequate to enable it to comply with any requirements imposed by state or federal legislation dealing with the subject matter of this subchapter upon state-administered certification programs and to enable it to comply with any state or federal requirements for facilitating the issuance of tax-exempt bonds should their issuance be authorized.

(f)

(1) Under §§ 23-18-106 and 23-18-107 and the rules and regulations adopted thereunder, the Arkansas Public Service Commission may determine the need for additional energy supply and transmission resources by public utilities in an energy resource declaration-of-need proceeding.

(2) A determination of need under subdivision (f)(1) of this section shall be deemed the basis for the need for the construction of a major utility facility to be sited and constructed under this subchapter.