EnergyOnline
Services

RSS FEED

EnergyOnline.com rss

News

SPP's Western Expansion Set for Implementation on April 1

LCG, March 13, 2026--The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) announced yesterday that leaders from the participating organizations voted unanimously to proceed as planned with expanding its regional transmission organization (RTO) services into the Western Interconnection. SPP sees the decision to proceed as planned as a strong signal of confidence as SPP and its partner utilities prepare for this key milestone, which will occur overnight between March 31 and April 1.

Read more

Entergy Estimates Customer Savings of $5B from "Fair Share Plus" Data Center Agreements

LCG, March 6, 2026--Entergy yesterday announced approximately $5 billion in total savings for 2.3 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi resulting from data center customer agreements in those states. Entergy, which completed its first data center customer agreement in 2024, projects the customer savings over the next 20 years and after the regulatory approval or acknowledgement of the public service commissions in those states.

Read more

Industry News

Wisconsin Lawmaker Would Push Power Plants

LCG, June 19, 2001Wisconsin state Rep. Tim Hoven, a Republican, is set to introduce legislation which would make it easier for independent power producers to gain a foothold in his state. He plans to insert his four-part plan into the state budget during the Republican Party's caucus later this week.

Hoven's plan could mean the end of another plan by Wisconsin Energy Corp. to spend $7 billion on five new power plants and upgrades to others. The company has said that if it can't build its own plants, it will purchase power on the wholesale market from independent companies.

Hoven defended his approach, saying "We are trying to develop a competitive wholesale market in Wisconsin." He stressed that encouraging development of independent power plants does not mean that their owners would dominate the market.

Steve Hiniker, executive director of the Citizens' Utility Board, a Midwest utility watchdog group, thought they might. "The basic concern is that the folks who brought California to the national forefront are the same people who want to help Wisconsin meet its energy needs," he said. "The IPP's gouged consumers in California, and now they have their own plan on how Wisconsin can meet its energy needs."

"I don't buy that type of rhetoric, and I think it's disingenuous to make that kind of argument," Hoven said, charging that drawing comparisons to California is a rhetorical fear tactic that ignores the benefits of competition at the wholesale level.

Hoven's plan would incorporate competitive bidding into the permitting process, but it was unclear how that would work. Nevertheless, Wisconsin Energy found fault with that element, saying it would add another layer of bureaucracy to power plant development.

"We are opposed to any proposal that would add additional layers of unneeded regulation," said Wisconsin Energy spokesman Mike John. "We strongly believe that the Public Service Commission-controlled permitting process provides more than adequate review to the various proposals."

Hoven's plan would also allow transmission lines to be added or upgraded so long as there is no significant expansion in transmission corridors. That aspect of the proposal rankled another watchdog group that said it tramples on landowners' rights.

Copyright © 2026 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