Atlantic City power supplier agrees to turn the lights on at Revel

By William H. Sokolic

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Reuters) – After a two-week blackout at Atlantic City’s Revel Casino, a power supplier has agreed to turn the lights back on at the failed gambling resort under a temporary deal reached in court with its new owner.

With a hearing scheduled for Monday to reconsider a temporary restraining order to block owner Glenn Straub from using generators, ACR Energy Partners agreed tosupply enoughelectricityto run a fire control system for two weeks.

The dealwith Straub’s company, Polo North, will allow the two sides more time to find the long-term resolution to their dispute. The parties have agreed to a mediation if negotiations break down.

“The parties have said that they are interested in exploring with each other whether there is any meeting ground for a long-term agreement or a buyout,” Judge Jerome Simandle said on Tuesday.

ACR, formed to supply the Revel complex with electricity when it opened in 2012, has said it would shut off power until Straub agreed to abide by a 30-year supply agreement it had with the Revel’s former owners, and pay the hefty bills they accrued.

Straub, a Florida developer who specializes in buying distressed properties, paid $82 million for the gleaming, $2.4 billion high-rise casino-hotel earlier this year.

To sidestep ACR, Straub sought to hook up generators, but on Friday, U.S. District Judge Jerome B Simandle issued a temporary restraining order barring any such move, citing the potential danger of using outside equipment.

The city had imposed a fine of $5,000 for every day the power was down as an incentive for the two sides to come to an agreement and end the fire threat to the property.

(Editing By Frank McGurty and Andre Grenon)