MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – A judge ruled in favor of the Tennessee Valley Authority in the legal dispute over the sale of an Alabama nuclear plant, but said the utility must refund millions over the aborted deal.
The ruling issued Thursday is a victory to the utility and could end the winding saga over the sale of the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant near Scottsboro. U.S. District Judge Liles Burke ruled TVA did not violate its sales contract and had no obligation to extend the closing deadline for a company called Nuclear Development to buy the facility.
Nuclear Development LLC in 2016 had agreed to buy the site for $111 million. However, the company in 2018 filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the Tennessee Valley Authority of illegally pulling out of the sale a day before closing.
The utility has argued Nuclear Development failed to get the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval for transfer of the construction permits in time for the closing deadline. The company had argued that TVA pulled out of the sale because of concerns that it would lose customers to Nuclear Development.
Burke wrote that the motives of TVA officials ultimately did not matter because the company failed to meet the requirement of the deal. The utility had no obligation to extend the deadline.