enXco Dev. Corp. v. Northern States Power Co., No. 13-1918 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseAfter enXco did not obtain a permit by a date certain, thus failing to satisfy a condition precedent to a contract concerning the construction of a wind-energy project, NSP terminated the contract. enXco filed suit against NSP for breach of contract. On appeal, enXco challenged the district court's grant of summary judgment for NSP. Assuming, without deciding, that Minnesota courts would apply the doctrine of temporary impracticability to conditions precedent for use as a sword, the court concluded that the doctrine has no application on these facts. Therefore, the district court correctly declined to apply the doctrine of temporary impracticability. The court declined to apply the doctrine of disproportionate forfeiture and left the parties to their bargain. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Civil case - Contracts. Where plaintiff did not obtain a permit by a date certain, thereby failing to satisfy a condition precedent in the parties' contract, the district court did not err in finding for defendant on plaintiff's breach of contract claim; neither the doctrine of temporary impracticability nor the doctrine of disproportionate forfeiture excused plaintiff's failure to satisfy the condition precedent. Judge Beam, concurring specially.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.