EnergyOnline
Services

RSS FEED

EnergyOnline.com rss

News

NuScale Power Achieves Standard Design Approval from NRC for 77 MW SMR

LCG, May 30, 2025--NuScale Power Corporation (NuScale), a leading provider of advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology, yesterday announced that it has received design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its uprated 77 MW power modules. NuScale states that it remains the only SMR technology company with design approval from the NRC, and the company remains on track for deployment by 2030, with 50- and 77-MW SMR options.

Read more

EIA Presents Analysis of California's Solar and Wind Power Curtailment Challenges

LCG, May 29, 2025--The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released an analysis yesterday showing that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the grid operator for most of the state, is increasing its curtailment of the rapidly growing solar- and wind-powered generation facilities in order to balance electricity supply and demand, which is necessary to maintain a stable electric system.

Read more

Industry News

Midwest ISO Tariffs Draw Complaints

LCG, Feb. 13, 2002--The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), now two weeks into its operation as a FERC-approved Regional Transmission Organization, is drawing criticism from traders and marketers over its tariff design.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will consider the complaints at its next routine meeting tomorrow, has promoted RTO's in order to bring about an open and efficient marketplace in which electricity can be bought and sold efficiently over the transmission grid. Some market participants see the rules now in place in the MISO as unnecessarily increasing costs and holding the potential for discriminatory access. As vice president of Cargill-Alliant, Bret Jones, told Reuters, "the concept of an entity managing the grid in order to optimize revenues... is beneficial for everyone, providing for a lower cost delivery system and better use of that system. I don't believe that the MISO structure has reached that point."

As a joint venture of Cargill Inc. and Alliant Energy Corp., Cargill-Alliant made a filing with the FERC on Dec. 10. In October, another filing was made by the American Transmission Co. concerning allegations of discriminatory treatment and flawed rate design.

Cargill-Alliant's dissatisfaction comes partly from the different transmission charges assessed to different transmission users. Charges represent either a network rate or a point-to-point rate. Marketers are charged point-to-point rates, which are often more expensive than the network rates. Utilities buying power for customers pay the network rate. According to Duke Energy North America, Dynegy Power Marketing Inc., subsidiaries of Mirant Corp. and Tenaska Power Services Co., the ability of utilities to reserve transmission capacity equivalent to expected peak loads at no additional charge may lead to inefficient use of the grid.

Midwest ISO chief financial officer Michael Holstein confirms that "there are certain circumstances where a trading pattern that existed before is not as profitable as it is today." He pointed to simplified billing for customers, and the replacement of multiple charges by different utilities with a single tariff as improvements. Holstein said the changes mean that "the net gain offsets whatever dislocation there is for certain limited transactions."
Copyright © 2025 LCG Consulting. All rights reserved. Terms and Copyright
UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
Uniform Storage Model
A Battery Simulation Model
UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
CAISO CRR Auctions
Monthly Price and Congestion Forecasting Service