In a September 18, 2015 order, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York affirmed a bankruptcy court order denying administrative claim treatment to Hudson Energy Services, LLC (“Hudson”) for its retail sales of electricity to the debtor.1 The decision does not address any “safe-harbor” or forward contract issues, but is among a number of decisions providing for inconsistent treatment of such sales.
Hudson filed a claim for administrative priority related to its provision of $875,943.90 in electricity to Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (“GAPTC”) and its affiliates. In affirming the bankruptcy court’s order, the district court agreed that electricity is not a “good” for purposes of the administrative priority provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and, alternatively, that the principle that administrative priority claims should be narrowly construed dictated that Hudson’s claim was properly denied.
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