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PJM Reports Resources Are Adequate to Meet Growing Summer Demand

LCG, May 7, 2026--PJM issued today its Summer Outlook 2026, which forecasts sufficient generation for typical peak demand this summer. PJM states that it is prepared to call on contracted demand response resources to reduce electricity use during times of high system stress.

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NRC Approves Oklo's Principal Design Criteria Topical Report for Aurora Powerhouse

LCG, May 6, 2026--Oklo Inc. ("Oklo"), an advanced nuclear technology company, announced today that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the Principal Design Criteria (PDC) topical report for the Aurora-INL (Idaho National Laboratory) nuclear small modular reactor (SMR), which is currently under construction in Idaho. The PDC topical report establishes a regulatory framework that defines the fundamental safety, reliability, and performance requirements to guide future reactor licensing and design activities, and the approved report should simplify future applications and reduce the need to re-review established material.

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Industry News

Salmon are Losers in Bonneville's Hydro Plans

LCG, July 2, 2001The Bonneville Power Administration said Friday that what with this year's Columbia River flows perilously close to the lowest year on record it has decided it cannot provide summer spill for migrating salmon.

The big taxpayer-owned utility said it had reached its decision "in consultation with other federal agencies."

A "spill" is diversion of water through channels that permit fish to traverse a dam without being turned into fish meal by the hydroelectric turbines. In the summer, juvenile fish migrate from their birthplaces to the ocean, returning later to spawn.

"Summer spill would reduce power system reliability to an unacceptably low level," said Bonneville's Steve Wright. "With the Columbia Generating Station nuclear plant still down for maintenance and the July early-bird forecast down to a near record-low level, we simply cannot take that risk."

According to the operations plan for 2001 released by the federal agencies on April 13, Columbia River runoff needs to be at least 55 to 56 million acre-feet to be able provide spill for fish and meet system reliability criteria, but the June mid-month forecast shows only 53.9 million at The Dalles, a slim 0.1 million acre-feet above the all-time record low of 53.8 million set in 1977.

The most recent analysis by the Northwest Power Planning Council shows about a 12 percent probability of power deficits next winter, even if additional water is stored at Grand Coulee and other Columbia Basin reservoirs before winter, Bonneville said. Skipping the summer spill will make storage of this additional water possible.

"We regret having to limit our fish operations this year, but we need to assure power reliability for the summer, fall and winter," Wright said. "Where we can, we will take steps other than spill to help the fish survive in this critical year. This includes adopting a recommendation from the Council to fund about $20 million in emergency projects to partially offset the impact of reduced spring spill on fish."

Several salmon and steelhead species migrate to the ocean in the summer, but only one of thosespecies -- Snake River fall chinook -- is listed as endangered. None are as abundant as they once were.

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