Zachary Fitzgerald
A contractor that built a power plant in Morgan City is suing the Louisiana Energy and Power Authority in federal court for nearly $18 million in damages, alleging that the authority breached its contract.
The Robins & Morton Group filed a lawsuit March 10 against the Louisiana Energy and Power Authority in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette. The Daily Review received the text of the lawsuit from the U.S. Attorney’s Office upon request.
The lawsuit stems from the LEPA power plant that Robins & Morton built in Morgan City. Robins & Morton, which is based in Birmingham, Alabama, alleges in the lawsuit that, as a result of breaches in the contract, it has suffered and will suffer damages of over $17.9 million.
Robins & Morton is seeking “damages for LEPA’s failure to pay amount due for work performed” on the project and “for damages and a time extension caused by LEPA’s other breaches of contract including delay to, interference with, and acceleration of R&M’s work,” the suit says.
On Jan. 17, 2014, the two parties entered into a contract for engineering, procurement and construction services. With change orders, the contract totaled $59.5 million, the lawsuit said.
LEPA dedicated the $120.77 million power natural gas-fired, combined-cycle gas turned generating plant May 20, 2016, on Youngs Road in Morgan City next. The plant was the first power plant to be built in south Louisiana in about 40 years.
Six LEPA member municipalities, including Morgan City, Houma, Jonesville, Plaquemine, Rayne and Vidalia, participated in the project.
Officials broke ground on the plant in April 2014. LEPA began issuing bonds in 2013 to fund the construction of the plant.
The construction contract included a completion date of Sept. 22, 2015, with a $500,000 bonus if the company completed the project up to 30 days early, the lawsuit said. Robins & Morton had planned to complete the project by July 31, 2015, but finished March 18, 2016, due to “combined impact of numerous events of delay and disruption caused by LEPA, LEPA’s suppliers” and by weather events, according to the lawsuit.
As a result of these events, the project was delayed by 295 days, the lawsuit said.
The Daily Review called LEPA to speak with General Manager Cordell Grand about the lawsuit, but was told that Grand was out of the office until Monday. LEPA doesn’t have an attorney for the lawsuit listed in documents provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.