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Matrix Renewables Announces the Commissioning of Pleasant Valley Solar 1

LCG, April 15, 2025--Matrix Renewables announced today the successful commissioning of the Pleasant Valley Solar 1 power generation facility in Ada County, Idaho. The 200-MWac solar facility includes a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that was secured through negotiation with Meta and Idaho Power. Matrix Renewables states the facility is the largest operational solar facility in Idaho Power's system. Sundt Renewables, the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) services provider, completed construction of the project on March 2nd.

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Duke Energy Seeks to Extend Operating License for Robinson Nuclear Plant

LCG, April 9, 2025--Duke Energy announced yesterday its submission of a subsequent license renewal (SLR) application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the Robinson Nuclear Plant, a 759-MW nuclear unit located near Hartsville, South Carolina. The application requests extending the plant's operations for an additional 20 years.

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Industry News

Continued Solvency of TVA Questioned in Report

LCG, Nov. 25, 2003--Two accounting professors with experience in utility analysis have completed a study in which they say that the Tennessee Valley Authority, the government-owned utility, will find it difficult to avoid bankruptcy or the need for a federal bailout.

Dr. Paul MacAvoy, a management professor with Yale University, and Dr. Dennis Logue, the dean of the Oklahoma University School of Business, say that the inflated book value of nuclear plant assets is allowing the TVA to state a positive net worth. If those assets were written down to reflect their true economic worth however, or if the TVA should fare poorly after losing its monopoly status, the report concludes, the utility would find it unable to service its $25 billion debt load as its creditworthiness was downgraded.

MacAvoy told the Chattanooga Times/Free Press in an interview that "some of TVA's accounting is like what Enron did before its bankruptcy." MacAvoy and Logue warned correctly that nuclear plant projects begun by the Washington Public Power Supply System, and which were abandoned in the 1980s, pointed the way to a default.

Currently the debt of TVA is graded AAA by Standard & Poor's, and Aaa by Moody's Investors Service, which takes the TVA's government-owned status into account in assigning a high credit rating. Scott Taylor, with Standard & Poor's said that although the utility "is in a highly leveraged position ... it certainly is not in any dire straits." TVA is able to adjust its rates without regulatory approval. Dr. Logue cited a possible increase in interest rates and competition from other utilities as factors that could result in serious harm.
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