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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.

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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.

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Industry News

Reliant Fined in Plant Shutdown Case

LCG, Feb. 3, 2002--The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Friday released documents and announced a $13.8 million fine based on what a commissioner called "blatant" actions by Reliant Resources to drive up power prices in June 2000 by shutting down power plants in California.

Transcripts of conversations between traders for Reliant that were provided to the FERC indicated that multiple plants were taken out of the market on June 21 and June 22, about one month after prices in the Western power market had begun to climb from previous levels. One trader, whose identity was not given, stated in one transcript, "We decided prices were too low on the daily market, so we shut down everything except Ormond." In another conversation, a trader asked about shutdowns, "Did the market find out?" The answer was "No, God, no." Transcripts were posted on the FERC website.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Mike Florio, an attorney on the board of the California Independent System Operator, said that during the period in question, "roughly 8,000 to 10,000 megawatts disappeared from the Power Exchange market, virtually overnight." Many plant operators said that prolonged running of plants at high capacity made it necessary to take plants down for maintenance.

Reliant Resources will be required to have shutdowns at its plants during the next two years overseen by an independent engineering firm, which will need to provide updates to federal authorities. The fine imposed on Reliant was assessed based on FERC's calculation of the overall impact on buyers of power at the time. The fine will be allocated to individual participants, such as the state's utilities, after specific impacts have been determined.

The amount of the fine was strongly criticized by Gov. Gray Davis, who deemed it "insulting." State Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey, said claims by generators that all possible capacity had been provided to the market had been shown to be "an absolute farce."
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