Federal Judge Schedules Date For FPL Energy, CMP Asset Sale Trial

U.S. Federal District Court judge John Martin has scheduled Feb. 2 to consider FPL Energy Inc.'s request for a declaratory judgment that Central Maine Power (CMP) cannot meet essential terms of the agreement for the sale of its non-nuclear generating assets to FPL Group, Inc. FPL Group filed the civil action on Nov. 17 after concluding that recent FERC rulings on transmission access, as well as other issues, should not bind the company to complete the transaction.

According to FPL Energy President Michael Yackira "We are grateful that Judge John Martin has expedited a trial of our claim that will resolve this contract dispute in advance of any anticipated closing date."

Yackira adds that: "FPL Energy entered into this contract in good faith. This issue is about CMP's inability, because of recent regulatory changes, to deliver the assets under the conditions to which we mutually agreed. CMP's protests about FPL Energy's legal filing cannot camouflage the plain fact that CMP fully appreciated the importance of obtaining the required regulatory approvals and FPL Energy having the ability to market fully the energy produced. FPL Energy cannot accept less than that for which we bargained."