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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

Yakama Tribe Bills Bonneville for Rain-Making

LCG, May 23, 2001The Yakama Indian Nation of Washington state has sent the Bonneville Power Administration a bill for $32,000, seeking payment for two ritual rain-making ceremonies the tribe claims will help the federal operator of hydroelectric facilities produce more power this summer.

The Pacific Northwest has suffered through a persistent drought that has severely curtailed power production at Bonneville's 29 hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers, forcing large aluminum smelters to curtail production or shut down operations and eliminating power available for export to California.

The drought also has the states of Washington and Oregon scrambling to find sufficient electricity production to meet their own needs. Large diesel generators are being installed near Wenatchee, within view of the Columbia, and in Tacoma.

With the water shortage threatening to continue, the Yakima tribe talked to Bonneville about producing some rain. Mike Hansen, a Bonneville spokesman, said the agency's acting administrator, Steve Wright, talked in March to representatives of the Indian Nation about "traditional" methods of encouraging rainfall.

Hansen said Wright was willing to listen but apparently Randy Settler, a tribal council member, thought the conversation was a go-ahead. The tribe went ahead with two ceremonies in the central Washington mountains in March, bringing traditional foods such as roots and berries, and thinks the ritual did some good.

At the Yakima airport, 1.86 inches of rain has been recorded since the first of the year, withmore than half of that -- 0.98 inches, occurring since March 1, the Associated Press reported. The year-to-date total is 1.47 inches below normal, while the amount since March 1 is 0.40 inches less than normal.

"We've had more rain since those events," Settler said. "We've had a lot of rain."

So, the Yakama Indian Nation sent Bonneville a $32,000 bill for the rain-making. Hansen said the invoice was "pretty vague" about the details, adding that Bonneville would not pay the bill.

"It was pretty much a blow to me to hear from the (Bonneville) administrator that he couldn't find the funds ... to assist in this," Settler said.

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