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SPP's Western Expansion Set for Implementation on April 1

LCG, March 13, 2026--The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) announced yesterday that leaders from the participating organizations voted unanimously to proceed as planned with expanding its regional transmission organization (RTO) services into the Western Interconnection. SPP sees the decision to proceed as planned as a strong signal of confidence as SPP and its partner utilities prepare for this key milestone, which will occur overnight between March 31 and April 1.

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Entergy Estimates Customer Savings of $5B from "Fair Share Plus" Data Center Agreements

LCG, March 6, 2026--Entergy yesterday announced approximately $5 billion in total savings for 2.3 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi resulting from data center customer agreements in those states. Entergy, which completed its first data center customer agreement in 2024, projects the customer savings over the next 20 years and after the regulatory approval or acknowledgement of the public service commissions in those states.

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Industry News

Allete? That’s Minnesota Power’s New Moniker; Meantime, Precision Power Became Xcelecom

LCG, Aug. 9, 2000--The search for "brand names" by U.S. electric companies continues, and so far no one has found the magic word that will stick in Americas consciousness the way Ford, Chevrolet, Edison, Westinghouse, Dow or DuPont have.

Yesterday, Minnesota Power Co. announced with enthusiasm that beginning September 1 it will go by the alias "Allete," though its electricity customers will still make out their checks to Minnesota Power. The company lamely explained that the new name combines "all" and "elite." If thats the case, why didnt it come out "Allite?"

Ed Russell, Minnesota Powers chairman, said "We wanted to be both all-inclusive and recognized for striving to be the best." The all-inclusive part is a problem. Minnesota Power is very big in the used car auction business in the U.S. and Canada and recently bought some water properties in Florida.

Hes hoping that "Allete" will strike in the public the same sort of chord as do General Electric, United Airlines, Ivory Soap, Safeway and even the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Co.

Minnesota Power wasnt alone in this search yesterday. Precision Power Inc., a non-regulated affiliate of United Illuminating Co., New Haven, Conn. electric utility, said its name had been changed to "Xcelecom." It likes the "com" part so much that it will have a Website named Xcelecom.com.

Dennis Dugan, the companys president, said "We felt our name needed to more broadly reflect our capabilities, strategy and objectives as we move forward and continue building the company."

Precision Power wont disappear. It will continue to be a non-regulated electric service provider in New Haven, but the company wants to get into all kinds of telecommunications businesses and has recently made some acquisitions, including The Data Store in New Jersey and an electrical contractor in Pennsylvania.

The thing about successful company names is, they usually tell you the "who" or the "what" and sometimes both.

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