EnergyOnline
Services

RSS FEED

EnergyOnline.com rss

News

NRC Renews Operating Licenses for Constellation's Nuclear Reactors at Clinton and Dresden Facilities

LCG, December 16, 2025--The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced today that it has renewed the operating licenses of Constellation LLC’s Clinton Unit 1 in Clinton, Illinois, and Dresden Units 2 and 3, near Morris, Illinois, for an additional 20 years beyond the current expiration dates. The combined capacity of these three, Illinois-based nuclear units is 2,925 MW, and the operating license extension will enable the units to generate carbon-free power through about 2050.

Read more

ERCOT Announces Organizational Changes to Promote Grid Reliability, Rapid Demand Growth, and Innovation

LCG, December 12, 2025--Today, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) announced strategic organizational changes designed to accelerate innovation, strengthen grid reliability, and support the unprecedented growth in the demand for electricity across Texas. To meet these objectives, ERCOT created two new organizations: Interconnection and Grid Analysis, and Enterprise Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The two organizations will formally launch in January 2026.

Read more

Industry News

Aluminum Production Slashed as Power Prices Soar

LCG, Dec. 27, 2000Shortages and high prices in a region where electric power was once plentiful and cheap have forced Goldendale Aluminum Co. to slash by three-quarters production at a primary aluminum smelter in Washington state, according to the plant's owners.

The big Norwegian industrial firm Norsk Hydro said in a statement yesterday that its Goldendale, Wash. smelter operated by subsidiary Golden Northwest Aluminum would reduce production from about 105,000 to just 27,000 metric tons for the next nine months. A metric ton is 10 percent greater than a conventional 2,000-pound ton.

The Pacific Northwest has heretofore enjoyed an abundance of hydroelectric power, but a booming high-tech economy coupled with low rainfall has pointed up the need for increased sources of electricity. At the same time, the hydro facilities are under pressure from environmentalists to cut back production in order to protect certain fish species. There is even talk of demolishing four large dams on the Snake River.

Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency responsible for operating the government-owned hydroelectric facilities and for much of the transmission grid in the Northwest, recently cut back on power allocations to industries and at the same time raised the price of power.

Norsk Hydro said it would return much of its power allocation to Bonneville at a below market price. The cutback at Goldendale will "free-up funds to protect the viability of Goldendale through investment in power generation capacity," the company said in a statement.

The company intends to keep its work force intact for the nine months, it said, paying "costs of continued employment, wages and benefits of the smelter's employees."

Copyright © 2025 LCG Consulting. All rights reserved. Terms and Copyright
UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
Uniform Storage Model
A Battery Simulation Model
UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
CAISO CRR Auctions
Monthly Price and Congestion Forecasting Service