Free Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:98-cv-00483-LMB

Document 266

Filed 09/14/2006

Page 1 of 5

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 98-483C (Judge Baskir)

JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's March 8, 2006 order, defendant, the United States, respectfully submits this status report addressing further proceedings in this case. Counsel for plaintiff, Florida Power and Light Company ("Florida Power"), has reviewed this report and agrees with its contents. The parties respectfully request that the Court continue the current stay of proceedings through and until December 31, 2006. During that time, the parties expect resolution of the appellate review in PSEG Nuclear, L.L.C. v. United States, No. 05-5162 (Fed. Cir.), and decisions in other SNF damages cases in this Court which have proceeded to a more advanced stage. As the Court is aware, the Court's decision in PSEG Nuclear L.L.C v. United States, 64 Fed. Cl. 37 (2005), that this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the pending partial breach of contract claims arising

Case 1:98-cv-00483-LMB

Document 266

Filed 09/14/2006

Page 2 of 5

from the Standard Contract, is on appeal to the Federal Circuit. We expect that the Federal Circuit's decision will provide guidance regarding the scope of the jurisdiction of this Court as well as the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to consider claims by utilities under the Standard Contract. Oral argument was conducted May 1, 2006, and we expect that a decision could be issued soon. Because the ruling of the Federal Circuit is expected to provide guidance regarding the scope of this Court's jurisdiction to consider Florida Power's claims, the parties believe that it is prudent to await that decision from the Federal Circuit. The parties further believe that the resolution of this case will also be aided by decisions that may be issued soon in the following cases: Yankee Atomic Elec. Co. v. United States, No. 98-126C, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. v. United States, No. 98-154C, and Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co. v. United States, No. 98-474C (Merow, S.J.) (trial conducted in July and August 2004); Southern Nuclear Operating Co., et. al, v. United States, No. 98-614C (Merow, S.J.) (trial conducted October 2005); Sacramento Municipal Utility District v. United States, No. 98-488C

2

Case 1:98-cv-00483-LMB

Document 266

Filed 09/14/2006

Page 3 of 5

(Braden, J.) (trial conducted in March 2005 and August 2006);1 and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. United States, Nos. 04-0074 and 04-0075 (Hewitt, J.) (trial conducted June 2006). A continuation of the stay is also necessary since counsel for both parties have been and will be extensively engaged in discovery and other pre-trial matters in several other SNF cases pending before this Court. Counsel is expected to participate in many of the upcoming damages trials: System Fuels, Inc. v. United States, No. 03-2624C (Braden, J.), beginning on September 18, 2006, and continuing in January 2006; Northern States Power Co. v. United States, No. 98-484C (Wiese, S.J.), beginning October 23, 2006; System Fuels, Inc. v. United States, No. 03-2623 (Lettow, J.), February 12-23, 2007; Wisconsin Electric Power Co. v. United States, No. 00-697 (Merow, S.J.), March 27-April 16, 2007; and Boston Edison Co. v. United States, No. 99-447C/Entergy Nuclear Generation Co. v. United States, No. 03-2626C (Lettow, J.), May 7-18, 2007. In addition, discovery is continuing in several additional cases.

The Court issued an interim decision in March 2006, but conducted further evidentiary proceedings in August 2006. Sacramento Municipal Utility District v. United States, 70 Fed. Cl. 332 (2006).
1

3

Case 1:98-cv-00483-LMB

Document 266

Filed 09/14/2006

Page 4 of 5

For the foregoing reasons, the parties respectfully request that the Court extend the stay of proceedings through and until December 31, 2006. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director

s/ Harold D. Lester, Jr. HAROLD D. LESTER, JR. Assistant Director

s/ Marian E. Sullivan MARIAN E. SULLIVAN Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 307-0365 Fax: (202) 307-2503 September 14, 2006 Attorneys for Defendant

4

Case 1:98-cv-00483-LMB

Document 266

Filed 09/14/2006

Page 5 of 5

CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on this 14th day of September 2006, a copy of foregoing "JOINT STATUS REPORT" 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/Heide L. Herrmann