Rankin v. FPL Energy, LLC
Texas Court of Appeals
266 S.W.3d 506 (2008)
- Written by Anjali Bhat, JD
Facts
Dale Rankin, several other individuals, and one corporation (plaintiffs) sued FPL Energy, LLC; FPL Energy Horse Hollow Wind, LP; FPL Energy Horse Hollow Wind, LP, LLC; FPL Energy Horse Hollow Wind GP, LLC; FPL Energy Callahan Wind Group, LLC; and FPL Energy Callahan, LP (FPL) (defendants), asserting public and private nuisance claims and seeking injunctive relief based on FPL’s construction and operation of a wind farm in Taylor County, Texas. FPL filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the plaintiffs’ nuisance claims. The trial court partially granted FPL’s motion and dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims to the extent that the claims were based on the wind farm’s visual impact. The remaining claims proceeded to trial. The trial judge instructed the jury not to consider the wind farm’s aesthetic impact, and the jury found against the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs appealed, arguing that aesthetics could be considered as one of the conditions that rendered a lawful business a nuisance.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Strange, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 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.
