SEIBEL, District Judge.
Before the Court is the appeal of Hudson Energy Services, LLC ("Hudson") from the Bankruptcy Court's August 24, 2012 bench ruling and August 30, 2012 Order denying its request for administrative priority pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(9). (Bankr. Docs. 3952, 3953).
For the reasons that follow, the Bankruptcy Court's Order is VACATED, and the case is REMANDED to the Bankruptcy Court for further proceedings.
On April 27, 2012, Hudson filed a Motion for Allowance of Administrative Claim Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(9),
For the purposes of Hudson's Section 503(b)(9) claim, the Reorganized Debtors do not dispute that Hudson sold electricity to them in the ordinary course of business within twenty days before the bankruptcy or the amount of Hudson's claim, but rather only whether the electricity provided by Hudson constitutes "goods" within the meaning of the statute. (See MBR 3.) In denying Hudson's Motion, the Bankruptcy Court concluded that electricity did not "clearly fall" within the definition of "goods" in Section 503(b)(9), (see id. at 10), relying in part on the principle that administrative expense claims "must be tightly construed," (id. at 4) (quoting Howard Delivery Serv., Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 547 U.S. 651, 667, 126 S.Ct. 2105, 165 L.Ed.2d 110 (2006)), and "clearly fit within the statute's provisions" before being accorded priority treatment, (id. at 10). The applicable definition of "goods," cases interpreting Section 503(b)(9) and Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC") Article 2 as applied to electricity, and the legislative history of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act ("BAPCPA") also informed the Bankruptcy Court's denial of Hudson's Motion. (See id. at 4-18.)
As the term "goods" is not defined in the Bankruptcy Code, the Bankruptcy Court first held that the UCC definition of goods
Despite consensus on using the UCC definition, however, the applicability of Section 503(b)(9) to the sale of electricity is an open question. Although the majority of cases hold that electricity is a good under UCC Section 2-105(1), a strong minority — led by decisions of the New York Court of Appeals, the Second Circuit, and this Court — disagrees. (See id. at 6-7.) In the Section 503(b)(9) context, courts are in essence evenly split on whether electricity is a good — a conflict driven in part by the divergent underlying UCC case law. Compare In re Pilgrim's Pride Corp., 421 B.R. 231, 240 (Bankr.N.D.Tex.2009) ("The Electricity Provider does not clearly fit within the requirements of [S]ection 503(b)(9).... The Electricity Provider's [S]ection 503(b)(9) claim must therefore be denied administrative priority under [S]ection 503(b)(9)."); In re Samaritan Alliance, LLC, No. 07-BK-50735, 2008 WL 2520107, at *4 (Bankr.E.D.Ky. June 20, 2008) ("[T]he court concludes that while courts are divided on the general question of whether or not electricity is `goods,' the court agrees with the Debtor that [S]ection 503(b)(9) is not applicable here and that the electricity provided is more properly characterized as a `service.'"), with In re Grede Foundries, 440 B.R. at 799 ("[T]he bankruptcy court ruled correctly that electricity is a `good' within the meaning of [Section] 503(b)(9) of the Code."); In re Erving Indus., Inc., 432 B.R. 354, 374 (Bankr.D.Mass.2010) ("Having determined that the only question is whether electricity, as supplied by [claimant], is a good under [Section] 503(b)(9), this Court concludes that, using either the UCC definition or the definition urged by the Debtor, electricity easily falls within the definition.").
Relying on New York's interpretation of "goods," see Norcon Power Partners, L.P. v. Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., 163 F.3d 153, 155 (2d Cir.1998) ("[T]he UCC does not apply to [the] sale of electricity which is a service under New York law."), the Reorganized Debtors argued below that New York's interpretation of the UCC should govern when assessing the applicability of Section 503(b)(9) to electricity — an assertion rejected by the Bankruptcy Court in favor of a uniform federal definition. (See MBR 6-9.) Although courts have looked to state law on occasion to determine a bankruptcy law right, the Bankruptcy Court ultimately determined that Section 503(b)(9) requires a "uniform-throughout-the-country analysis." (Id. at 9 (citing In re Erving Indus., 432 B.R. at 366 n. 23 ("The Court remains mindful, however, that [Section] 503(b)(9) is federal law.... [T]o the extent that differences arise from local enactments of the UCC or the variances in its interpretation by the courts of the states, ... federal bankruptcy courts should be reluctant to give those variances effect under federal law.") (internal quotation marks omitted)).) It further held that the principles that "administrative expense claims need to be construed narrowly rather than broadly" and that a claim "should clearly fit within the statute's provisions or definition before it is accorded administrative expense treatment" are necessarily included in this federal interpretation of Section 503(b)(9). (Id. at 9-10.)
In applying the UCC definition of goods to electricity, the Bankruptcy Court ultimately concluded that the term is "ambiguous
Because the term "goods" in Section 503(b)(9) was ambiguous when applied to electricity, the Bankruptcy Court turned to the statute's legislative history for guidance. In 2005, Congress enacted Section 503(b)(9) as part of the BAPCPA along with modifications to the Bankruptcy Code's reclamation provisions.
Considering this legislative history, the Bankruptcy Court found that it was "more likely than not," or at a minimum at least as likely, that Congress intended Section 503(b)(9) not to apply to something "evanescent" like electricity but instead to "tangible thing[s]" that can be identified before the contract is performed in a moveable and measurable quantity. (Id. at 16-17.) Considered alongside the principle that administrative priorities should be construed narrowly, the Bankruptcy Court held that it should "err on not granting the administrative expense," concluding that Section 503(b)(9) "should not be construed ... broadly to equate a sale of electricity with a `good.'" (Id. at 17.)
On September 10, 2012, Hudson filed a timely Notice of Appeal. (Doc. 1.) On appeal, Hudson argues that the Bankruptcy Court erred in finding that electricity is not a good within the meaning of Section 503(b)(9). (See Hudson Mem. 1.) Specifically, Hudson asserts that the Bankruptcy Court erred in strictly construing Section 509(b)(3) so that electricity must "clearly fall" within the definition of "goods" to allow an administrative expense; relying on Article 2 of the UCC as the definition of "goods" for Section 509(b)(3); interpreting the first comment to the UCC Section 2-105 to require that electricity must be fairly identifiable as movable before the contract is performed to qualify as a "good" for Section 509(b)(3); finding that the electricity Hudson sold to the Reorganized Debtors was not fairly identifiable as movable before the contract was performed; and failing to hear evidence on whether the electricity Hudson provided could be fairly identified as moveable before the contract was performed. (See id. at 1-2.)
The Reorganized Debtors respond that the Bankruptcy Court did not err in holding that electricity is not unambiguously a "good" within the meaning of Section 503(b)(9) because the meaning of the term is not defined in the Bankruptcy Code or settled in the common law, and the Supreme Court has held that administrative priorities must be tightly construed. (See RD Mem. 1.)
This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1) to hear appeals from final judgments, orders, and decrees of a bankruptcy court. A district court reviews a bankruptcy court's findings of fact for clear error and reviews its legal conclusions de novo. Overbaugh v. Household Bank N.A. (In re Overbaugh), 559 F.3d 125, 129 (2d Cir.2009) (per curiam); see Fed. R. Bankr.P. 8013 (district court may "affirm, modify, or reverse a
A Bankruptcy Court's determination that a payment is or is not a proper administrative expense presents a question of law. In re Bethlehem Steel Corp., 479 F.3d 167, 172 (2d Cir.2007); see In re Grede Foundries, 440 B.R. at 797 (whether electricity is a good under Section 503(b)(9) is a question of law). But, as the discussion below makes clear, the same result would obtain if I regarded the issue as a mixed one of law and fact, which is also reviewed de novo, or if I regarded the Bankruptcy Court's conclusion that electricity cannot be identified while moving (as required under the UCC definition of a "good") as a clearly erroneous factual determination. See In re Ahead Commc'ns Sys., Inc., 395 B.R. 512, 517 n. 7 (D.Conn. 2008) (addressing legal conclusions of Bankruptcy Court de novo but noting that result would be the same if reviewing for abuse of discretion because finding facts with insufficient basis amounts to clear error); see also In re Grede Foundries, 440 B.R. at 797 (whether electricity moving when metered is question of fact).
As a threshold matter, Hudson argues that the Bankruptcy Court erred in looking to the UCC definition of goods to interpret Section 503(b)(9), asserting that the Court should have considered the general common law definition of "goods," which Hudson proposes could be found in Black's Law Dictionary.
In denying Hudson's Section 503(b)(9) claim, the Bankruptcy Court first found that electricity did not fall within either potential UCC definition of goods — either a thing "which [is] movable at the time of identification to the contract" or "an identified bulk of fungible goods." UCC §§ 2-105(1), (4). Specifically, the Bankruptcy Court found that electricity is not "actually movable at the time of identification" because it "disappears into use at th[e] moment" it reaches the meter. (MBR 14.) Nor was it an identified bulk of fungible goods because it is "simply a stream of electrical energy ... identified ... at the point of delivery." (Id.)
Hudson asserts that these conclusions of the Bankruptcy Court are factually inaccurate. With respect to electricity's movability at the time it is identified to the contract, Hudson argues that it is in fact moveable at two distinct points — first, when it is purchased by Hudson and released into the grid, (see Hudson Mem. 7-8), and second, when it is measured as it exits the grid and passes through a meter at a customer's facility, (see id. at 10-11). With respect to the former, it argues that it made wholesale purchases from electricity generators (power plants) that were specifically identifiable to its contract with the Reorganized Debtors. (See id. at 7-8; Hudson Reply Mem. at 7-8.)
In response, the Reorganized Debtors argue that Hudson's assertions have no merit. First, with respect to whether electricity is movable at the time of identification to the contract, the Reorganized Debtors contend that it is irrelevant if electricity is identifiable when it enters the power grid because Hudson makes no argument, nor could it, that the electricity it sold to them was identified to a contract for sale at the moment it entered the grid. (See RD Mem. 12-13.) Moreover, they assert that "once electricity has been `identified' to a contract for sale by measurement at the meter, it has already been consumed by the end user" and ceases to be movable because it is "impossible for the consumer to return electricity to the provider after it has passed the meter point." (Id.) (quoting In re Pilgrim's Pride Corp., 421 B.R. at 239 (alterations omitted).) They further argue that the de minimis amount of electricity that could be stored in laptop and cell phone batteries does not undermine the Bankruptcy Court's conclusion that electricity is not movable at the time of identification to the contract. (See id. at 13 n. 5.)
The Bankruptcy Court concluded that electricity was neither movable at the time of identification to the contract nor an identified bulk of fungible goods based on the parties' written submissions
I note that the Reorganized Debtors argue that an evidentiary hearing is unnecessary because the nature of electricity is a constant, or legislative fact — an "established truth[], fact[] or pronouncement[] that do[es] not change from case to case." United States v. Hernandez-Fundora, 58 F.3d 802, 812 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1127, 115 S.Ct. 2288, 132 L.Ed.2d 290 (1995). I disagree, for several reasons. First, if — as Hudson argues and as the Erving case held — electricity passes through the meter at the customer's location and is at that moment identified and thereafter consumed, it seems to me that it would meet the UCC's definition of a good, for the reasons set forth by the Erving Court. See In re Erving Indus., 432 B.R. at 369-71.
Second, while the physics of electricity may be constant, the instant case demonstrates that the economic or business arrangements for its delivery are not. Electricity can be provided by integrated utilities that generate, sell, deliver and service, or by entities like Hudson, which in today's deregulated market makes money simply by buying electricity from generators at a lower price than that at which it sells to customers but is otherwise "hands-off," or by entities that are somewhere in between. Each may have different arrangements with others in the supply chain from generator to consumer. If Hudson's theory that electricity is always identified at the customer's meter does not hold up, individualized assessment of these arrangements may be necessary to determine whether the electricity sold in a given case is a "good."
Further, that courts analyzing the issue have reached varying conclusions on varying theories indicates that the nature of electricity — at least as interpreted by the courts for purposes of Section 503(b)(9) — is not an "established truth[] ... that do[es] not change from case to case," Hernandez-Fundora, 58 F.3d at 812, which might obviate the need for an evidentiary hearing on the matter, compare In re Pilgrim's Pride Corp., 421 B.R. at 239 & n. 8 (electricity not a good because "[o]nce [it] has been `identified' by measurement at the meter, it has already been consumed by the end user;" "[i]t [would be] impossible for the consumer to return electricity to the provider after it has passed the meter point;" and "[i]t is difficult to imagine how electricity to be delivered could be identified at all before transmission to the customer"); In re Samaritan Alliance, LLC, 2008 WL 2520107, at *4 (electricity not a good because "electricity provided is more properly characterized as a `service'"), with In re Grede Foundries, 440 B.R. at 799-801 (affirming bankruptcy court holding that electricity a good because "an electric current is literally moving through the transmission network and continues to move until it is delivered to a customer at the time it is metered and consumed;" "metering satisfies the identification requirement of the UCC and the movement is sufficient to satisfy the movability requirement, even if it reaches the speed of light;" and "there is no principled distinction to be made" between electricity and natural gas or water, which are considered goods under the UCC definition) (emphasis in original) (internal quotation marks omitted); In re S. Mont. Elec. Generation & Transmission Coop., Inc., No. 11-BK-62031, 2013 WL 85162, at *4-5 (Bankr. D.Mont. Jan. 8, 2013) (electricity a good for reasons stated in In re Grede Foundries); In re Erving Indus., 432 B.R. at 370 (electricity a good because "[it] does
Finally, the Reorganized Debtors also contend that no hearing is necessary because the Bankruptcy Court did not rely on its factual determinations about electricity in denying Hudson's Motion. (See RD Mem. 23.) I disagree. The Bankruptcy Court's findings about electricity — including that it is used at the moment it becomes identifiable at the customer's meter — formed the basis for its conclusion that "electricity does not fall within the UCC definition," (MBR 14), and thus the word "goods" in Section 503(b)(9) is "ambiguous when applied to electricity," (id. at 15). That conclusion as to ambiguity in turn caused the Bankruptcy Court to reach the legislative history, on the basis of which it determined to disallow the claim. (See id. at 16-17.) That the Bankruptcy Court relied on its factual findings about electricity is clear when considering the alternative. Had the Bankruptcy Court concluded instead that electricity is movable at the time of identification to the contract, or that electricity is an identified bulk of fungible goods, it would have concluded that electricity satisfied the UCC's definition of "goods," and accordingly would not have found Section 503(b)(9) ambiguous as applied to electricity, and would have had no occasion to turn to its legislative history or the principle (with which this Court has no quarrel) that administrative priorities should be narrowly construed. Its resort to legislative history and the Howard rule of narrow construction was made necessary only by the factual findings that the electricity at issue did not fit comfortably within the UCC definition. Should those findings prove unwarranted on a fuller record, resort to those principles may be unnecessary. See In re Erving Indus., 432 B.R. at 373-74 ("[T]he Debtor presents an `equitable' argument for the narrow construction of goods as used in [Section] 503(b)(9) ... premised on the Debtor's assumption that electricity does not easily fit within the meaning of goods under [Section] 503(b)(9).... But that lack of clarity is not present here [because] ... this Court concludes that, using either the UCC definition or the definition urged by the Debtor, electricity easily falls within the definition. The Court should not find an ambiguity where there is none or make policy decisions to limit the application of Bankruptcy Code provisions when the language of the statute is otherwise clear.") (emphasis omitted).
For the reasons stated above, the Order of the Bankruptcy Court is VACATED, and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. The Clerk of the Court is respectfully directed to docket this decision and close the case.
The transcript of the Bankruptcy Court's August 24, 2012 bench ruling, (Bankr. Doc. 3953), was amended on October 8, 2012, (Bankr. Doc. 3999), and on October 25, 2012, Judge Drain entered a Modified Bench Ruling that corrected typographical errors in the earlier transcripts, (Bankr. Doc. 4017). Accordingly, when referencing the decision of the Bankruptcy Court in this Opinion, I will refer to the Modified Bench Ruling ("MBR"). (Bankr. Doc. 4017.)
The Bankruptcy Court also relied on UCC Section 2-105(4), which states that "[a]n undivided share in an identified bulk of fungible goods is sufficiently identified to be sold although the quantity of the bulk is not determined. Any agreed proportion of such a bulk or any quantity thereof agreed upon by number, weight or other measure may to the extent of the seller's interest in the bulk be sold to the buyer who then becomes an owner in common." Id. § 2-105(4).
Further, the cases the Reorganized Debtors cite to support their contention that Hudson should have proffered evidence regarding whether electricity fits within the UCC's definition of goods are inapposite, (RD Mem. 23-24 (citing Henry v. Wyeth Pharm., Inc., 616 F.3d 134, 151-52 (2d Cir.2010) (affirming exclusion of testimony under Federal Rules of Evidence and noting that offer of proof required where significance of excluded evidence is not sufficiently obvious), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 1602, 179 L.Ed.2d 516 (2011); Int'l Minerals & Res., S.A. v. Bomar Res., Inc., 5 Fed.Appx. 5, 9 (2d Cir.2001) (summary order) (excluded evidence of party's recovery in separate action not preserved for appeal because no specific offer of proof at trial))), and an offer of proof was particularly unnecessary here in the absence of any reason to believe that the first proceeding would be an evidentiary hearing.