Whitman v. New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc.

The plaintiffs, members of the defendant New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NHEC), appeal from a Superior Court (Johnson, J.) decree approving a Master’s (R. Peter Shapiro, Esq.) recommendation that their petition for declaratory judgment be denied. The issue presented is whether the master correctly ruled that the board of directors of NHEC could lawfully amend the association’s code of bylaws without a vote of the members. We hold that the master erred and, therefore, reverse.

The facts of the case are not disputed. NHEC is an “association for rural electrification” organized under…