Whenever any such application is made by as many as five members of the community, the North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority shall cause a survey of said territory to be made and if, in its opinion, the proposal is feasible, shall issue to said community a privilege for the formation of a corporation as hereinafter set out. Whenever an application has been filed by any community with the North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority, and its application for formation of an electric membership corporation has been approved, the same may be formed as hereinafter provided.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 117-9