Power failure? Service to Revel casino will be cut off Thursday, utility says

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- The power plant that is the sole source of utility service to Atlantic City's former Revel casino says it will cut it off on Thursday.

ACR Energy Partners said it would notify lawyers for new Revel owner Glenn Straub Wednesday night that the cutoff would become effective at noon Thursday.

Timothy Lowry, an attorney for ACR Energy, said they tried hard to reach an interim agreement but Straub's Polo North Country Club left the utility with no other options.

"One minute he's telling us that he doesn't need ACR and the next we're hearing about turtles with extension cords from Showboat," Lowry said. "ACR cannot provide power for free."

Straub's lawyer, Stuart Moskovitz, said Wednesday night he had not heard anything from the power plant on Wednesday.

The power plant, built exclusively for the $2.4 billion casino, had been a major impediment to selling the casino. It demanded assurances its bills would be paid, and had threatened to cut off service to the building several months ago, but was temporarily barred from doing so by a bankruptcy court judge.

Straub has refused to take over Revel's contract with ACR, and has said he may use portable generators in a pinch. The glass-enclosed building could be overrun with mold if utility service is ended for any length of time, and there is concern pipes could burst without heat to the building.

He finalized his $82 million purchase on Tuesday.

Straub has floated the idea of bypassing the power plant by connecting Revel to the utility gird through the former Showboat casino next door to it, which he bought last Friday.