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Oklo and Siemens Energy Sign Agreement to Accelerate Power Conversion System for New SMR in Idaho

LCG, November 19, 2025--Oklo Inc. and Siemens Energy announced today that the parties have signed a binding contract for the design and delivery of the power conversion system for Oklo’s Aurora-INL (Idaho National Laboratory) nuclear small modular reactor (SMR). The agreement authorizes Siemens Energy to begin engineering and design work to expedite procurement of long-lead components and to initiate the manufacturing process for the power conversion system. Oklo’s expertise in advanced fission technology will be combined with Siemens Energy’s extensive industry experience with steam turbine and generator systems, with the ultimate goal of generating carbon-free, reliable electricity.

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NERC's New Winter Reliability Assessment Raises Concerns for Elevated Risk of Insufficient Supplies to Meet Demand in Extreme Operating Conditions

LCG, November 19, 2025--NERC yesterday released its 2025–2026 Winter Reliability Assessment (WRA), which concludes "much of North America is again at an elevated risk of having insufficient energy supplies to meet demand in extreme operating conditions." The WRA does state that resources are adequate for normal winter peak demand, but extended, wide-area cold snaps will be challenging.

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Industry News

PG&E Told to Defend Legality of Reorg Plan

LCG, Dec. 5, 2001--U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali yesterday told Pacific Gas & Electric Co. that it would have to defend the legality of its reorganization plan at a January 25 hearing on the co-called "preemption issue" raised by state regulators.

PG&E's plan to emerge from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy relies in large part on Montali's willingness to preempt state regulations that limit a utility's right to sell power plants and other assets. While the company has not suggested that it wants to sell its remaining power plants, it does want to transfer them into a non-regulated subsidiary of its parent holding company PG&E Corp.

The California Public Utilities Commission had asked for a separate trial on the issue, but Montali rejected the request. Even so, Gary Cohen, general counsel for the CPUC, said "Overall, I'm pleased with what happened today."

PG&E was also pleased. Oscar Cantu, a lawyer for the utility, said the judge's ruling had put the monkey on the CPU's back. "It's their burden to show there is no set of circumstances" under which the reorganization plan could be found legal by the court, he said.

There are a number of laws with which the PG&E plan may be in conflict, most notably legislation passed just three months before the utility filed for Chapter 11 protection, that prohibits any transfer of a utility's generating assets until 2006.

Lawyers for the CPUC have been hesitant to insist on enforcement of some of these laws lest they might compromise the state's sovereign immunity and trigger a federal review of the state laws.

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