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Southwest Power Pool Board Approves New Process to Accelerate High Impact Large Load Connections

LCG, September 16, 2025--Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) Board of Directors today announced that the Board approved a process to facilitate the connection of large users of electricity to the power grid while continuing to support energy needs for the entire region. SPP's new process is designed to incorporate transmission service, generation, load interconnection and other relevant reliability studies into a single framework that enables timely, informed decision-making and action.

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Longroad Energy Announces Financial Close of 1000 Mile Solar Project in Texas

LCG, September 15, 2025--Longroad Energy announced today the financial close of 1000 Mile Solar, its 300 MWac (400 MWdc) solar project in Yoakum County, Texas. Longroad Energy finalized a long-term offtake agreement with Meta late last year in the form of an Environmental Attributes Purchase Agreement, which includes a financial settlement arrangement for the entire energy output of 1000 Mile Solar.

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Press Release

EIA Releases Study on Drought Effects on California Electricity Generation and Power Market using UPLAN Model

LCG, June 6, 2022 – California is experiencing more frequent and intense drought conditions. One effect of droughts is the reduction in hydropower. In its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration assumes that monthly generation in the future follows average historical patterns to forecast California's hydroelectric generation. However, cyclic drought conditions demand an alternative approach to modeling hydropower, with more hydrological variables included to account for highly variable hydro conditions. Growth in intermittent generating capacity also magnifies the impact of droughts on power markets. In light of this, EIA performed this study as a supplement to STEO using LCG Consulting’s UPLAN model.

Six major hydropower projects in California are modeled for the critical summer months from June to September using detailed information about water and reservoir storage conditions. These hydropower projects have the biggest influence on the overall hydroelectric generation in California. EIA examines two cases: a median case assuming median water supply between 1980 and 2020 and a drought case representing the current year.

EIA found in the drought case, California's summer hydroelectric share of generation mix was nearly halved from 15% to 8%, with the reduction in generation offset by electricity from neighboring markets and in-state natural gas generation. Increased natural gas generation contributed to higher electricity prices and CO2 emissions. On-peak prices in Northern California increased by 7% relative to the median case, and Southern California by 5%.

The UPLAN model incorporated natural inflow to each hydropower project with initial reservoir inventory, and EIA used this information to produce forecasts of hourly generation.

EIA study link: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/special/supplements/2022/2022_sp_02.pdf

See previous press release for more on EIA's modeling work using the UPLAN model.http://energyonline.com/Industry/News.aspx?NewsID=25086&EIA_Publishes_Regional_Electricity_Supply_and_Pricing_Forecasts_Using_UPLAN_Model_
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