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Vistra to Install New Gas-Fired Units at Permian Basin Power Plant

LCG, September 30, 2025--Vistra Corp. announced yesterday that it will proceed with the next phase of its capital plan to support grid reliability in Texas. In 2024, Vistra identified over $1 billion worth of potential capital additions in generation capacity within the Texas ERCOT market by 2028 if market conditions were supportive. Now, with West Texas' growing power requirements, particularly the state's expanding oil and natural gas industries, Vistra reached a final investment decision and confirms it will build two new advanced natural gas-fired power units on-site at its Permian Basin Power Plant.

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ERCOT Announces New Grid Research, Innovation and Transformation (GRIT) Initiative

LCG, September 24, 2025--Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. (ERCOT) yesterday announced its new initiative to increase its efforts to fully use and apply innovation and transformation through industry collaboration to best overcome the challenges and opportunities facing future grid operations. The new Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) initiative will advance research and prototyping of emerging concepts and solutions to better understand the implications of rapid grid and technology evolution and position ERCOT to lead in the future energy landscape.

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Industry News

California Renewable Requirement Leaves Municipals Exempt

LCG, Oct. 14, 2002--A bill signed into law by California Gov. Davis that requires power suppliers and marketers to sell an increasing amount of power sourced from renewables does not include municipal utilities.

The California law is much the same as similar laws in states such as Texas and Connecticut. A federal rule now being considered has elicited strong lobbying efforts by municipal utilities to exclude them from a national renewables standard. The reason many such utilities cite for their opposition is the need to keep prices low to customers, who are also owners.

"It frustrates me when environmental groups and the Green Party just sort of blindly support public power and assume it's going to be cleaner," Julia Levin, California policy coordinator with the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the Sacramento Bee. Some supporters of green power believe the inconsistency may contribute to more volatile power prices in the future, as non-municipal suppliers increase their purchases of renewable power by 1 percent of sales annually. The recently signed bill calls for a 20 percent minimum requirement.

There is wide variation among California municipal systems in the proportion of renewable generation sold, with Santa Clara's utility Silicon Valley Power ranking among the highest due to use of geothermal generation. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) relies very little on renewable sources (2%), and imports power from coal-fired plants in neighboring states. The LADWP says it may set renewable goals for itself next year.

David S. Freeman, who has headed both the Tennessee Valley Authority and the LADWP, said the focus of municipal systems on cost reduction and opposition to state-imposed requirements, "Is their attitude on this stuff smart? No. Is it right? No, but it's inbred."
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