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NuScale Power Achieves Standard Design Approval from NRC for 77 MW SMR

LCG, May 30, 2025--NuScale Power Corporation (NuScale), a leading provider of advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology, yesterday announced that it has received design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its uprated 77 MW power modules. NuScale states that it remains the only SMR technology company with design approval from the NRC, and the company remains on track for deployment by 2030, with 50- and 77-MW SMR options.

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EIA Presents Analysis of California's Solar and Wind Power Curtailment Challenges

LCG, May 29, 2025--The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released an analysis yesterday showing that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the grid operator for most of the state, is increasing its curtailment of the rapidly growing solar- and wind-powered generation facilities in order to balance electricity supply and demand, which is necessary to maintain a stable electric system.

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Industry News

Apache Deplores 'Speculation' by Gas Traders

LCG, Oct. 2001--In a thinly-veiled swipe at Enron Corp., oil and gas producer Apache Corp. yesterday deplored "speculative" activities by natural gas traders, saying they have contributed to an extreme volatility in gas markets that now threatens U.S. energy supply.

In remarks that accompanied Apache's third quarter earnings report, Raymond Plank, the founder and chief executive of the Houston-based company, said "As Americans, we want to contribute to our country's energy security in every way we can."

But Plank found that not all companies share his patriotism. "Regrettably, at a time when stability and rationality should be the call words, we find ourselves in the most volatile natural gas pricing environment in history," he said. "Current conditions make it difficult, if not impossible, to maximize our contribution to the nation."

And he knew whom to blame. "This debacle is the result of excessive speculation inherent in a gas market driven by paper trades." Plank later admitted that Enron was a target of his remarks.

Enron is North America's biggest paper trader of natural gas.

Plank's son, Chief Financial Officer Roger Plank, said in a conference call "Investors and industry alike are trying to determine what has really been going on behind the curtain of some of the most active traders of natural gas."

The Securities and Exchange Commission is also trying to find out what has been going on, and it was the SEC's inquiry into Enron's activities that earlier this week cost Andrew Fastow his job as Enron's chief financial officer.

G. Steven Farris, Apache's president and chief operating officer, joined the attack on paper traders. "Never before have we had such unchecked short-term speculation and trading which makes long-term investment decisions in natural gas almost impossible," he said.

But Farris returned to the business at hand. "Despite the impact of a slowing economy on (natural gas) prices, Apache's earnings and financial condition remain strong," he said. The company reported that its third-quarter earnings fell to $151.9 million, or $1.19 cents per share, from $197.3 million, or $1.58 per share, in the same period of 2000, due to sharply lower natural gas and crude oil prices.

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