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EIA Analysis of Southwest Hydropower Generation Shows Record Lows and Slow Recovery

LCG, November 13, 2026--The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) today issued an "In-Brief Analysis" highlighting the record lows for hydropower generation in the Southwest this summer. The prolonged drought conditions affecting the Colorado River Basin caused record low hydropower generation this summer in the Southwestern electricity supply region, which includes Arizona, New Mexico, and small parts of Nevada and California. Hydropower generation from April through August 2026 was a full 28 percent lower than the 10-year average and 19 percent lower than during the same period last year.

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NRC Issues Construction Permit for Long Mott High-Temperature, Gas-Cooled Reactor in Texas

LCG, November 11, 2026--The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced on November 9 that it has approved the Construction Permit Application ("CPA") for the Long Mott Generating Station in Texas. Long Mott Energy, LLC (LME) must obtain a separate operating license from the NRC before loading fuel or operating the reactors.

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Industry News

California Water Agency Wants $18 Billion for Power

LCG, Nov. 7, 2001--The California Department of Water Resources, the agency which has been buying electricity on behalf of the state's cash-strapped investor-owned utilities, said yesterday it needs $18 billion to cover emergency power purchases.

At the same time, state Treasurer Phil Angelides said he would meet this week with state regulators in an effort to get them to take necessary action for California to issue $12.5 billion in bonds to pay for some $7 billion in power already purchased and consumed and to back up long term contracts reaching as far as 20 years into the future.

The water agency said the $18 billion it needs would cover $10 billion from revenues to be collected from customers of investor-owned utilities, $7.8 billion from proceeds of advances from the state's general fund, and $160 million from sales to other utilities.

Angelides, in a Santa Monica press conference, said that unless the general fund is repaid, popular programs such as increased aid for education might have to be abandoned.

"This bond issue must get done," Angelides told reporters. He said failure to issue the bonds would cause "monumental" damage to schools and many other essential public services.

California had originally intended to market the bonds in May, and Gov. Gray Davis had at that time "guaranteed" that the general fund would be repaid not later than June 30. The bond issue was delayed several times, with the latest "inviolate" deadline set as October 31. That deadline, like the others, was violated.

Under state law, the California Public Utilities Commission must approve details of the water agency's needs before the bonds can be marketed. The regulators' most recent objection has been that the bond issue would lock the state into paying $43 billion for the long-term power purchases now that market prices for electricity are much less than they were when the contracts were negotiated.

Loretta Lynch, president of the CPUC, yesterday repeated her call to renegotiate the state's long-term power contracts, saying such talks should cover price, length, quantities and even contractual language.

"We have some very good legal arguments. We have some very good practical arguments," she said. "We need to go back to reform these contracts."

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