NextEra Energy Inc.’s long-running quest to recoup $60 million from the bankruptcy of former Texas energy giant Energy Future Holdings Corp. comes with a hitch — collecting the money means tangling with an old foe, Elliott Management Corp., WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. As one of the largest creditors, Elliott got most of the cash left behind when Energy Future’s operating businesses exited bankruptcy in 2018, following a failed deal with NextEra for which the Florida-based power company has been seeking compensation ever since. NextEra’s legal arguments had been largely rejected until earlier this month, when an appeals court revived the company’s efforts to recoup its fees and expenses from trying and failing to buy Texas utility Oncor Electric Delivery Co., Energy Future’s former crown jewel. Oncor was eventually sold to Sempra Energy when Texas regulators rejected NextEra as a buyer. The defunct shell of the old Energy Future has only $2 million to its name, having paid out more than $1 billion to creditors in the years since its bankruptcy terms went effective. Its chapter 11 administrators were back in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., on Friday, facing a renewed fight with NextEra but with precious few resources to litigate, let alone pay a potential judgment.
