South Boston Energy, LLC v. Hartford Steam Boiler Speciality Insurance Company

Filing 93

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by District Judge Liam O'Grady on 8/15/2019. (rban, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Alexandria Division

SOUTH BOSTON ENERGY LLC,D/B/A
NOVEC ENERGY PRODUCTION

HALIFAX COUNTY BIOMASS,
Case No. I;18-cv-596

Plaintiff,
V.

HARTFORD STEAM BOILER

SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, Dkt.
90, and Plaintiffs Motion for Attorney's Fees and Costs. Dkt. 78. For the following reasons

Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is denied. Plaintiffs Motion for Attorney's Fees
and Costs is granted.
I. Background

This case, which involves a dispute between a Virginia power plant and its insurer,
begins in Poland. There, during the manufacture of a 50MW Alstom Steam Turbine Generator

(the "turbine"), a foreign metal object somehow made its way into the turbine and evaded

detection. The turbine was then shipped to the United States - with the foreign metal object
onboard as a stowaway - where it became the centerpiece of Plaintiff NOVEC's biomass power
plant in South Boston, Virginia. NOVEC then operated the turbine for approximately two-and-ahalf years without any known issues.