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Minnesota PUC Approves Operations Extension for Xcel Energy's Prairie Island Nuclear Plant

LCG, August 15, 2025--Xcel Energy announced that the company received state approval yesterday from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to extend operations of the Prairie Island nuclear plant through the early 2050s. Prairie Island has two units that have a combined generating capacity of 1,100 MW. The units’ current operating licenses expire in 2033 and 2034.

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PGE Announces Addition of 475 MW of Battery Energy Storage Systems to Improve Grid Reliability and Costs

LCG, August 7, 2025--Portland General Electric (PGE) today announced the completion of three, four-hour lithium-ion utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Oregon, adding 475 MW and more than 1.9 GWh of dispatchable capacity to serve the Portland metro area. Each of these BESS facilities can deliver power during peak demand or when other electric generating facilities are limited, which improves system flexibility, reliability and costs.

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Industry News

NRG's El Segundo Energy Center Project Commences Operations

LCG, August 9, 2013--NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) recently announced that commercial operation has commenced at its natural gas?fueled, combined-cycle generating facility at the El Segundo Energy Center, which is located near Los Angeles, California. Southern California Edison will obtain the entire output from the facility under a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) executed in 2008.

The new, 550-MW El Segundo Energy Center project supports the retirement of a less efficient, 335-MW steam boiler unit built at the site in 1964 that relied on once-through ocean water for cooling. The new facility is an air-cooled, combined-cycle facility that uses grey water and reduces the use of potable water at the site by nearly 90 percent. The new facility employs a fast-start design that delivers more than half of its generating capacity in less than 10 minutes and the balance in less than 1 hour. The rapid response capabilities are especially important in California, with its ever-growing use of intermittent, renewable resources.

"Our modernization efforts at El Segundo ideally complement California?s growth of intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, in support of the State?s renewable portfolio standard while maintaining its tradition of being a good neighbor to the surrounding coastal communities," said the President of NRG Energy?s West Region. "In addition, we have worked with the community to improve the visual aesthetics of the site by incorporating native landscaping, installing a new picturesque sea wall, and affording improved coastal views with the lower profile of the plant."

The new generating capacity is a welcome addition this summer, given Southern California Edison's recent decision to not reactivate and to permanently retire Units 2 and 3 at its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).

NRG purchased El Segundo Generating Station in the spring of 1998 as part of the California electric industry restructuring. The station was originally built in the 1950s by Southern California Edison.
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