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Minnesota PUC Approves Operations Extension for Xcel Energy's Prairie Island Nuclear Plant

LCG, August 15, 2025--Xcel Energy announced that the company received state approval yesterday from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to extend operations of the Prairie Island nuclear plant through the early 2050s. Prairie Island has two units that have a combined generating capacity of 1,100 MW. The units’ current operating licenses expire in 2033 and 2034.

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PGE Announces Addition of 475 MW of Battery Energy Storage Systems to Improve Grid Reliability and Costs

LCG, August 7, 2025--Portland General Electric (PGE) today announced the completion of three, four-hour lithium-ion utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Oregon, adding 475 MW and more than 1.9 GWh of dispatchable capacity to serve the Portland metro area. Each of these BESS facilities can deliver power during peak demand or when other electric generating facilities are limited, which improves system flexibility, reliability and costs.

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Industry News

EdF's London Electricity Buys PowerGen Plant

LCG, Oct. 16, 2000British electric company PowerGen said this morning that is has sold its 2,000 megawatt Cottam power plant in Nottinghamshire to London Electricity for 398.3 million ($585.5 million U.S.).

The cash deal will give Electricit de France, London Electricity's owner, control of about 4.5 percent of the United Kingdom's generating capacity. Add in the power supplied to Britain through a cross-channel cable, and the French government-owned EdF will control almost 8 percent of UK demand.

The sale of the coal-fired Cottam station is part of PowerGen's larger plan to reduce debt by 1 billion and move from primarily a UK generation firm to a vertically-integrated utility with extensive supply business. PowerGen, which purchased U.S. utility LG&E Energy earlier this year is also eyeing further overseas acquisitions.

The deal is almost certain to prompt demands that France open its electricity market to investment by foreign firms. EdF has been active in making British acquisitions while the French government has been loath to open its own market, despite pressure from the European Commission.

Last February under threat of an EU lawsuit, France finally opened about a quarter of its market to foreigners, but has imposed so many restrictions that few, if any, such investments have been made. Even so, France's token "liberalization" came a year after a deadline set by EU directives.

Bruno Lescoeur, chief executive of London Electricity, said in a statement "Our aim is to build a vertically integrated business, strong in both generation and supply, and this acquisition is a further step towards achieving our ambition of becoming a major player in the UK energy industry."

No British power executive has been able to issue such a statement regarding the French energy industry.

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