NextEra claimed it was entitled to collect the breakup fee to cushion the blow of a takeover campaign that cost tens of millions of dollars. The company has said it was still trying to get the PUC Texas to change its mind when Energy Future pulled the plug on the Oncor sale and began talks with other contenders. Judge Sontchi on Tuesday said he wouldn't have approved a breakup fee provision that entitled NextEra to collect as long as it refused to admit the Oncor deal was dead, so the provision was a mistake. The ruling is likely to spur settlement talks over the breakup fee, lawyers said at Tuesday's court hearing. The decision came in a fight led by Elliott Management Corp., a hedge fund that picked up big stakes in Energy Future debt earlier this year. Elliott has been leading creditors in an effort to spur aggressive action by Energy Future to defeat the breakup fee.