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SPP and Member Utilities Successfully Achieve Western Expansion Milestone

LCG, April 2, 2026--Southwest Power Pool (SPP) today announced that the expansion of its service territory into the Western Interconnection has been a success. The milestone makes SPP the first regional transmission organization (RTO) with services spanning the Eastern and Western Interconnections. Its member organizations, which cover all or part of 17 states, can now benefit from a more operationally and geographically diverse integrated system.

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Holtec Achieves Milestone towards Restarting Palisades Nuclear Facility and Advances Plans to Build Two SMRs at Palisades Site

LCG, March 31, 2026--Holtec International yesterday announced that it successfully completed a milestone test necessary to return Holtec's Palisades Nuclear Generating Station to service. The 805-MW pressurized water reactor (PWR) is located in Michigan and was shut down by Entergy in May 2022. Holtec acquired the facility in June 2022 and has pursued a path to return the plant to service.

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Industry News

ERCOT reviewed Frio County Transmission Project

June 18, 2020 - In November 2019, 7X Energy submitted the Frio County Transmission Project to the ERCOT Regional Planning Group (RPG) as an economic-driven project to address projected transmission congestion in the Frio County area. This is supported by an independent economic benefit study performed by LCG Consulting using its proprietary UPLAN model, the same economic planning model utilized by ERCOT, in accordance with ERCOT procedures. LCG’s analysis shows significant annual production cost benefit for the transmission upgrades in question.

In the independent review completed in May 2020, ERCOT identified transmission congestion on the 69-kV and 138-kV transmission system in Frio County, and a total of seven transmission upgrade options were evaluated. ERCOT concluded that the upgrades identified in Option 5 would provide the most cost-effective solution to the identified congestion while meeting the ERCOT economic planning criteria. Option 5 is estimated to cost $12.13 million and is described as follows:
  • Rebuild the Moore – Big Foot 138-kV line such that the summer normal and emergency ratings are at least 485 MVA

  • Reconductor the Moore – Hondo Creek 138-kV line such that the summer normal and emergency ratings are at least 382 MVA

The recommended option is classified as a Tier 2 project based on the ERCOT Protocol Section 3.11.4.3(2), and the project is expected to be in-service by Summer 2021.
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