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News
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LCG, November 26, 2025--RWE announced today the commissioning of the Stoneridge Solar project, located in Milam County, Texas. The project capacity is 200 MW of solar power, plus a battery energy storage system (BESS) that provides 100 MW (200 MWh) of battery storage capacity. The BESS improves the supply of short-term, reliable, affordable electricity in ERCOT.
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LCG, November 19, 2025--Oklo Inc. and Siemens Energy announced today that the parties have signed a binding contract for the design and delivery of the power conversion system for Oklo’s Aurora-INL (Idaho National Laboratory) nuclear small modular reactor (SMR). The agreement authorizes Siemens Energy to begin engineering and design work to expedite procurement of long-lead components and to initiate the manufacturing process for the power conversion system. Oklo’s expertise in advanced fission technology will be combined with Siemens Energy’s extensive industry experience with steam turbine and generator systems, with the ultimate goal of generating carbon-free, reliable electricity.
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Industry News
FERC Orders Changes, Dumps Power Exchange
LCG, Nov. 2, 2000--The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said yesterday that California's electricity markets required an overhaul if the blackouts that threatened the state all summer weren't to become a reality next summer.Following a day-long investigation into the mechanism of California's wholesale power market, FERC votes 4-0 to institute changes that would go into effect in December following a period for public comment.One of the most significant changes recommended by FERC would eliminate the requirement that the state's three investor-owned utilities buy and sell power only through the California Power Exchange. That mandate, imposed by AB 1890, the state's electric restructuring law passed in 1996, prevented Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Southern California Edison Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. from entering into contracts to replace capacity lost when they were forced to sell off non-nuclear power plants.That requirement forced the utilities to pay current market prices for power they were required to deliver to their distribution customers. In San Diego, those prices were passed along to customers, creating a firestorm of protests from consumers who saw their electric bills more than double. PG&E and SoCal Ed, unable to pass on the higher costs, accrued more than $2 billion each in uncollected power costs.Under FERC's planned changes, the three utilities would be allowed to manage risk by entering into long- and intermediate-term power supply contracts. That change alone would require significant changes in the current power auction process.FERC also showed little faith in California's regulatory oversight and said it plans to set up panels of its own to keep tabs on the Power Exchange and the California Independent System Operator.The federal agency agreed that prices charged by generators this past summer seemed "unjust and unreasonable," but concluded that there was no evidence that abuses of market power took place. In response to populist demands that independent power producers -- the companies that bought the power plant sold by the utilities -- be forced to return so-called "overcharges," FERC said no dice.FERC Commissioner James Hoecker chided the activist groups, "Ideally, some people would want us to round up the bad guys who manipulated this market without restraint, without conscience, and order disgorgement of their ill-gotten gains," he said. "It's not as simple as all that. "FERC's plan would replace all of the recently imposed price cap schemes with a "soft" limit of $150 per megawatt-hour. The plan would allow prices above the cap to be charged, but those prices would not set the market price for other trades. That would be designed to eliminate the "bidding up" effect of the current auction market.The investigation also focused on the basic problem of supply and demand, an equation economists have considered basic for more than two hundred years. FERC's plan would ease environmental restriction on construction of new power plants.Commissioner Curtis Hebert objected to any price caps that might deter investment in new generation. He recognized that high prices are a problem right now, but said that an unreliable transmission system and insufficient capacity would be worse.FERC plans to stick around for a spell. It will hold another meeting a week from today to take comments on its proposals and gave utilities and other members of the electric industry until November 22 to present their views.
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UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
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UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
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UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
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PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
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