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Minnesota PUC Approves Operations Extension for Xcel Energy's Prairie Island Nuclear Plant

LCG, August 15, 2025--Xcel Energy announced that the company received state approval yesterday from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to extend operations of the Prairie Island nuclear plant through the early 2050s. Prairie Island has two units that have a combined generating capacity of 1,100 MW. The units’ current operating licenses expire in 2033 and 2034.

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PGE Announces Addition of 475 MW of Battery Energy Storage Systems to Improve Grid Reliability and Costs

LCG, August 7, 2025--Portland General Electric (PGE) today announced the completion of three, four-hour lithium-ion utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Oregon, adding 475 MW and more than 1.9 GWh of dispatchable capacity to serve the Portland metro area. Each of these BESS facilities can deliver power during peak demand or when other electric generating facilities are limited, which improves system flexibility, reliability and costs.

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Industry News

Trigen Loses Oklahoma City Case in U.S. High Court

LCG, Oct. 30, 2001--Cogeneration developer Trigen Corp. finally lost its antitrust lawsuit against Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. yesterday when the U.S. Supreme Court denied its latest appeal in the five-year-old case.

In 1996, Trigen-Oklahoma City Energy Corp. sought to develop a cogeneration plant that would provide heating, cooling and electricity to several buildings in downtown Oklahoma City. OG&E had no objection to the heating and cooling, but the utility owned a monopoly on the electricity.

In a 1998 trial in federal district court in Oklahoma City, Trigen complained about OG&E's monopoly status and the utility questioned how it could be considered a monopoly in Trigen's business -- heating and cooling services -- while OG&E's product is electricity. Furthermore, OG&E argued that its actions resulted in lower costs for the buildings in question.

Trigen won that round and OG&E was ordered to pay $30 million. The judge in the case later reduced Trigen's award to $20.6 million.

OG&E appealed, and a three-member federal appeals court panel overturned the verdict, finding no violation of the antitrust laws by the utility. The panel found that the "heart of Trigen's complaint is that OG&E's rates are too low and that Trigen had to lower its own rates or lose business." Trigen's appeal of that ruling to the full nine-member 10th Circuit Court was denied.

On July 30 of this year, Trigen petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of the case. Yesterday, the high court declined to review the case.

"We are very pleased that the Supreme Court of the United States acted so promptly and saw this case as we have; that is, as a case without merit," said Paul Renfrow, director of public affairs for the utility's parent holding company, OGE Energy Corp. "We have been confident this would be the outcome all along."

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