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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

New Problem for Cal-ISO: Interruptible Contracts Used Up

LCG, Jan. 23, 2001The California Independent System Operator, whenever it calls a "Stage 2" electricity emergency, orders the state's investor-owned electric utilities to shed load by shutting off power to industrial customers who have signed interruptible contracts in exchange for lower prices.

The move can reduce demand by almost 3,000 megawatts and help Cal-ISO avoid ordering rolling blackouts to protect California's shaky transmission grid. The agency declared more than 20 such emergencies last summer and since last fall has kept the state on what seems to be a perpetual Stage 2 alert.

Interruptible contracts, it turns out, aren't forever. Companies that signed them didn't agree to send their workers home every day. Permanente Cement Co. on the San Francisco Peninsula, for example, can be asked to interrupt its electric service for only 100 hours per year, a mark that could be exceeded today.

Yesterday, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. warned Cal-ISO that it has exhausted the entire allowance for the program in its service territory for this year. That includes most of Central and Northern California.

"Many times during this crisis, the interruptible program has made the difference between keepingthe lights on and having rotating outages," said Jeff Butler, a PG&E vice president. "Without these customers voluntarily serving as a buffer, the CAISO may have to implement the rotating block outage program much sooner if they are not able to buy enough power to meet the needs of our customers."

PG&E has about 170 interruptible customers who can be asked to take 400 megawatts of demand off the grid under a stage 2. The problem will get worse as Southern California Edison Co. nears exhaustion of its interruptible allowances. It has something like 1,500 customers representing 1,200 megawatts of interruptible load. Figures from San Diego Gas & Electricity Co. were not available this morning.

The state's power picture improved yesterday as some plants, shut down for repairs after last year's non-stop service, were put back to work. Cal-ISO said 7,600 megawatts of generation was still off line yesterday, but that was a vast improvement over last week when 10,500 megawatts was out of action.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and power, the largest municipal utility in the U.S. and unaffected by California's power woes, has been helping Cal-ISO out by selling it surplus power at market rates. Yesterday, the LADWP furnished the state with 550 megawatts and this morning said it has up to 1,000 megawatts for sale today.

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