In this 2013 photo, Dan Lepard, president/CEO of Global Green Lighting, talks about a new prototype.The big question following Thursday’s hearing on the whistleblower lawsuit brought against EPB by Don Lepard for the over billing of power for street lights in Chattanooga remains whether EPB and the City of Chattanooga are one or if EPB exists independent of the city.
“It is the determining question,” said Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth, for now, struck down the motion to dismiss and ruled that the next 120 days will be allotted for discovery, limited to proving whether EPB is one with the city or independent of it. A final decision on EPB’s motion will follow the discovery period.
If the two are proven to be the same, “this case is over,” the judge said.
Lepard is suing EPB on Chattanooga’s behalf for up to $10 million to recover money owed to the city due to streetlight overbilling. Lepard says he found the discrepencies on the books while working as a contractor for the city to replace old streetlights with newer, greener ones made by his company, Global Green Lighting.