No corporation, functioning under R.S. 45:64, shall exercise any right of expropriation or be considered as a public utility until it has filed with the Secretary of State a resolution of its board of directors, duly certified under its corporate seal, agreeing that the corporation shall be a public utility for the distribution of water for irrigation, for the transportation of freight and passengers, and for furnishing hydroelectric power and electricity, or either of them.
La. R.S. § 45:70