Free Motion for Extension of Time - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:02-cv-01894-EJD

Document 94

Filed 05/05/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS CONSUMERS ENERGY COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 02-1894C (Chief Judge Damich)

DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Pursuant to Rule 6(b) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), defendant, the United States, respectfully requests that the Court grant the parties an enlargement of 21 days, to and including May 26, 2006, within which to file the joint status report required by the Court's order dated March 8, 2006.1 Currently, the parties' joint status report is due by May 5, 2006. Defendant has not previously requested an enlargement for this purpose. Counsel for plaintiff has represented that plaintiff, Consumers Energy Company ("Consumers"), does not oppose this motion. Consumers and the Government have discussed the possibility of an amicable resolution of this litigation over the course of several months. Recently, Consumers provided a letter to the Government for which it seeks a response. The Department of Justice is preparing a response to that letter through the appropriate channels, and we anticipate that a response will be forthcoming very soon. Once Consumers receives that response, the parties will have to evaluate whether settlement discussions should proceed. Nevertheless, Consumers needs to obtain

Because of the relationship between the current stay of proceedings and the joint status report, we would also request that the Court extend the current stay of proceedings in this case, which is currently set to expire on May 12, 2006, by the same amount of time, to and including June 2, 2006.

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Case 1:02-cv-01894-EJD

Document 94

Filed 05/05/2006

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defendant's response to its letter before it can make a reasoned decision regarding further settlement discussions. We respectfully request this short enlargement of time to allow the appropriate individuals in the Department of Justice to complete a response to Consumers' letter and to allow Consumers to review and consider that response. For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully request that the Court grant our motion for an enlargement of time. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General

s/ David M. Cohen DAVID M. COHEN Director

OF COUNSEL: JANE K. TAYLOR Office of General Counsel U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20585

s/ Harold D. Lester, Jr. HAROLD D. LESTER, JR. Assistant Director Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 305-7562 Fax: (202) 307-2503 Attorneys for Defendant

May 5, 2006

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Case 1:02-cv-01894-EJD

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Filed 05/05/2006

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on this 5th day of May 2006, a copy of foregoing "DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME" was filed electronically. I understand that notice of this filing will be sent to all parties by operation of the Court's electronic filing system. Parties may access this filing through the Court's system.

s/Harold D. Lester, Jr.