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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 Municipal Raises Power Rates by Half

LCG, Feb. 9, 2001Mount Lassen in the Cascade Range of Northern California is an active volcano. Nothing has been heard from the mountain since 1921, but there are rumbles of a different sort coming from the municipal utility that serves the area.

The Lassen Municipal Utility District, which serves 11,000 customers in the town of Susanville and a few other hamlets, will raise its electric rates by an average of 49 percent. When they heard the news, the utility's customers breathes a sigh of relief because general manager John Baxter has said an increase of 162 percent might be needed.

The LMUD owns no generation of its own and when it bought power last fall it found that the price had gone up, rather than down as it usually does after the hot summer months.

Baxter told the district's board earlier this week that he had taken two steps to curb the rate hike. First, he wants to get rid of the district's biggest customer, the Sierra Army Depot in the town of Herlong. LMUD was selling power to the Army for less than it paid for it.

Second, he negotiated power supplies that will save the district money. A source who asked not to be named told EnergyOnline Daily News that the district signed a year-long deal with his power plant for the energy off one boiler, paying in the neighborhood of $30 per megawatt-hour and supplying the fuel.

The rate increase will add 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to residential customers' bills and cost commercial customers an additional 4 cents per kilowatt-hour.

One would think there was some geothermal power lurking beneath the surface of Mount Lassen.

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