enXco Development Corporation v. Northern States Power Company

758 F.3d 940 (2014)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
E
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

enXco Development Corporation v. Northern States Power Company

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
758 F.3d 940 (2014)

enXco Development Corporation v. Northern States Power Company

Facts

A company named enXco Development Corporation (EnXco) (plaintiff) executed two contracts with Northern States Power Company (NSP) (defendant) to construct a wind-energy project. The parties were required to fulfill the terms of the purchase and sale agreement (PSA) before proceeding with the construction agreement. The PSA required EnXco to obtain a Certificate of Site Compatibility (CSC) by a certain date, which was called the Long-Stop date, and included an express termination clause. EnXco failed to obtain the CSC due to temporary delays caused by a severe snowstorm, a government-hearing location error, and state-law notice requirements, despite having 29 months to do so. In response to a declaratory-judgment action that NSP filed for termination of the contracts, EnXco filed suit in federal district court against NSP for breach of contract, seeking declaratory relief and damages. The district court granted NSP’s motion for summary judgment. EnXco did not relinquish, and NSP did not receive, any assets or real property from termination of the contracts. EnXco appealed, arguing that the doctrines of impracticability and disproportionate forfeiture prevented the district court from strictly enforcing the condition precedent requiring EnXco to obtain the CSC.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Smith, J.)

Concurrence (Beam, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 812,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 812,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 812,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Contracts

Key Terms