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Avangrid and Puget Sound Energy Sign PPA, Including Upgrade and Life Extension, for Washington Wind Project

LCG, May 19, 2026--Avangrid, Inc., a member of the Iberdrola Group, today announced the signing of a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) for the 199.5-MW Big Horn I wind project in Klickitat County, Washington. This agreement represents the fourth PPA executed by the two companies for projects in the Pacific Northwest.

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DOE Acts to Ensure Key Coal-fired Power Plants Are Available in MISO to Supply Peak Summer Demands

LCG, May 18, 2026--The U.S. Secretary of Energy today issued an emergency order to address critical grid reliability issues in the Midwest anticipated this summer. The order is in effect beginning on May 19, 2026, through August 16, 2026. The emergency order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), in coordination with Consumers Energy, to ensure that the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant (Campbell Plant) in West Olive, Michigan shall take all steps necessary to remain available to operate and to minimize costs for the region.

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Industry News

Power Prices Threaten Washington State Economy

LCG, March 14, 2001--An analysis by the Washington state Office of Financial Management, noting that electricity in the state costs 20 percent more than it did a year ago and natural gas 60 percent more, paints a grim picture for the economy of the state.

In a worst case scenario, the study predicts that higher energy prices could cost householders $1.7 billion per year and cut job growth by a third. According to an Associated Press report, the hardest hit will be aluminum refiners, which use massive amounts of power. Those aluminum businesses located in Washington because of the abundance of inexpensive hydroelectric power.

It takes water to make hydroelectric power and Washington's rivers are near their all-time lows, as are the impoundments behind dams. Those reservoirs are the fuel tanks for the turbines that provide much of the Pacific Northwest's electricity.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke is expected to officially declare a drought emergency today. According to the energy analysis, electric power prices could rise another 50 percent and not come down for two or three years.

That will be too much for the aluminum industry, according to Robin King, an official of the Aluminum Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. "Those high prices simply would not allow aluminum production to resume or continue," he said.

Employment in Washington's aluminum industry has dropped from around 7,000 in 1998 to 5,000 today and a state economist says it will be down to 3,000 in another two years.

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