News
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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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
New Materials May Make Capacity Upgrades of Lines Easier
LCG, Mar. 4, 2004--Composite materials are being tested in newly designed power lines that have the advantages of not sagging like traditional lines, and of allowing a greater amount of power to flow without adding significant bulk.Companies developing the lines use substitutes for the steel that makes up the central core of traditional power cables, around which aluminum stands used to transmit electricity are wrapped. Because the composite materials, which use carbon fiber, glass and epoxy, provide the same strength as steel cores with larger diameters, they make it possible to wrap more aluminum around lines' cores. At the same time, they conduct less than steel, and sag up to 90% less, their makers say. This latter feature could be useful in preventing blackouts due to lines that heat up, and come to rest on trees or the ground.The largest-scale test yet underway is planned by a local utility in Kingman, Kan., which has agreed to pay for a test of a 21-mile-long line, according to the New York Times. Other tests are underway in North Dakota and Minnesota, where another company will see how well its line performs in the local weather conditions. The Department of Energy is contributing financial assistance to a test near Fargo, N.D., scheduled for the winter. If the tests are considered successful, more widespread adoption will depend on the willingness of utilities to replace older lines, which can operate for more than 50 years without becoming seriously degraded.
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UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
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UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
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UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
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PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
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