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DOE Acts to Ensure Key Coal-fired Power Plants Are Available in MISO to Supply Peak Summer Demands

LCG, May 18, 2026--The U.S. Secretary of Energy today issued an emergency order to address critical grid reliability issues in the Midwest anticipated this summer. The order is in effect beginning on May 19, 2026, through August 16, 2026. The emergency order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), in coordination with Consumers Energy, to ensure that the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant (Campbell Plant) in West Olive, Michigan shall take all steps necessary to remain available to operate and to minimize costs for the region.

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EPA Announces Proposed Rule Action to Revise ELG's and Support Reliable, Affordable Coal-fired Power Plants

LCG, May 14, 2026--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it is proposing a rule to revise wastewater limits, known as effluent limitations guidelines (ELG), for steam electric power plants that will help improve grid reliability and lower electricity prices while continuing to support clean and safe water resources. If finalized, the EPA's proposal is estimated to reduce electricity generation costs by as much as $1.1 billion annually, which could provide cost-savings to American consumers.

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Industry News

California Wants El Paso to Pay for Market Abuse

LCG, Oct. 17, 2001--The president of the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday asked federal regulators to ignore the decision of its top administrative law judge who ruled last week that El Paso Corp. and its affiliates did not conspire to drive up natural gas prices in the state.

Loretta Lynch, appointed by California Gov. Gray Davis to head the CPUC, told lawmakers in Washington that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should "provide a remedy for past illegal actions and set a clear standard for the future." The remedy should be in the form of cash.

Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner did not find evidence of manipulation. "While El Paso Pipeline and El Paso Merchant had the ability to exercise market power, there was not a clear showing that they had in fact done so," he said in his October 9 ruling.

But Wagner said transcripts of telephone conversations in February of last year showed clear violation of FERC standards of conduct, which say a pipeline operator must share natural gas transmission information with all shippers and not just its own marketing affiliates.

The standards also require that a pipeline company and its marketing affiliate must maintain "arm's length" separation.

"These telephone transcripts demonstrate blatant collusion on the part of El Paso Merchant and Mojave-El Paso Pipeline to keep secret a discount for service on the downstream Mojave system until the open season ended, giving El Paso Merchant an advantage in making its bid for the total 1,220 million cubic feet per day," Wagner wrote.

The CPUC, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and Southern California Edison Co., claimed El Paso withheld capacity on its pipelines into the state from March through November of last year. They asserted that the action inflated prices, costing the state $3.7 billion more than would have otherwise been paid for gas.

Judge Wagner's decision did not convince Lynch. "This is a textbook case of market power exercised to increase prices unlawfully," Lynch told a U.S. House reform subcommittee hearing on California's natural gas industry.

She added that if FERC fails to find that El Paso exercised market power "there isn't a market power case out there anywhere."

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