In re Cook and Sons Mining, Inc.

Cook (debtor), a coal company in Chapter 11, entered a post-petition contract to supply Santee Cooper with 60,000 tons of coal monthly at $35 per ton for a year without seeking bankruptcy court approval, consistent with its prior contracting practices; after shipping coal for three months without meeting tonnage goals and becoming administratively insolvent, Santee Cooper sought an administrative priority claim exceeding $10 million for Cook's breach, while Cook moved to avoid the contract entirely as outside the ordinary course of business requiring court approval under section 363. The bankruptcy court allowed avoidance only for part of the contract period and granted Santee Cooper a roughly $5 million claim, and both parties appealed.