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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 29 (ANI): The Power Transmission &amp; Distribution (<keyword id="21574285" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PTD" source="keywords">PT&amp;D</keyword>) business of <keyword id="19975888" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Larsen-Toubro" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Larsen &amp; Toubro" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Larsen &amp; Toubro">Larsen &amp; Toubro</keyword> (<keyword id="19963313" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="LT" source="keywords">L&amp;T</keyword>) has secured new orders both domestically and internationally for the construction of substations and <keyword id="21017821" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="transmission-lines" source="keywords">transmission lines</keyword>. According to an exchange filing, these projects are integral to the vast, interconnected electricity network, aiming to accelerate the <keyword id="20596535" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="clean-energy-transition" source="keywords">clean energy transition</keyword> and ensure a reliable, resilient power supply. In India, L&amp;T's PT&amp;D has been entrusted with two 765kV double circuit transmission line projects. These projects are vital for the evacuation of power from the Jaisalmer/Barmer <keyword id="21873922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Renewable-Energy-Zone" source="keywords">Renewable Energy Zone</keyword> in Rajasthan, channelling it to substations in Madhya Pradesh for further distribution. This initiative is a step towards harnessing and utilising renewable energy resources efficiently within the country. On the international front, Saudi Arabia continues its pursuit of sustainable and efficient power supply by bolstering its 380kV network in the central region. L&amp;T's PT&amp;D has secured orders to construct a 380kV substation and 380kV overhead line segments. These developments are crucial for enhancing the region's <keyword id="21644086" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="electricity-infrastructure" source="keywords">electricity infrastructure</keyword> and ensuring a stable power supply. In the United Arab Emirates, L&amp;T's PT&amp;D has been awarded contracts to build a 220kV substation and three 132kV substations. These substations will be pivotal in meeting the growing electricity demand in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, supporting the utilities in maintaining a robust and reliable power network. Larsen &amp; Toubro, a USD 27 billion Indian multinational, is a prominent player in EPC projects, hi-tech manufacturing, and services with a global footprint. Renowned for its customer-focused approach and relentless pursuit of top-quality standards, L&amp;T has maintained leadership in its major business domains for over eight decades. The recent orders won by L&amp;T's PT&amp;D fall under the 'Large' category, with values ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 crore.

L&T wins multiple orders worth Rs 2500 to 5000 crore to build grids for clean energy transition

<ul class="summary-list"><li>PepsiCo says it's two-thirds of the way done with an overhaul of its supply chain.</li><li>It has invested in AI and automation to make its production and distribution more profitable.</li></ul>Gregg Roden, PepsiCo's chief operating officer, has spent his entire 34-year professional career working at the snacking giant. He said that in the past three years alone he'd witnessed more change than in the 31 years before that.Over the past couple of decades, as consumers bought more goods online, grocery sales remained reliably stuck in the store. But the pandemic shifted grocery-shopping patterns, and now people are increasingly likely to buy food and beverages online too."When I started 34 years ago, everything was bought from a store, and we had a pretty narrow portfolio of options for the consumer," Roden told Business Insider. "Now, literally anyone can buy anything, anywhere." PepsiCo has also expanded its product line, offering new flavors and sizes of its snacks and drinks.These changes mean demand for more brands is coming from more directions. PepsiCo says it is investing in digitization and automation — including robotics and predictive artificial intelligence — so it can better plan for demand and more quickly and precisely produce and deliver its products. And it says its supply-chain transformation is two-thirds complete.<h2 id="edb5b524-83f3-4f66-928d-fc4bdede46a4">Supporting agriculture with AI predictive insights and satellite imagery</h2>PepsiCo generated more than $91 billion in 2023 from the sales of more than 500 brands worldwide, including its namesake soda, Lay's, Doritos, Gatorade, and Mountain Dew. The company's earnings for the first two quarters of 2024 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/11/pepsico-pep-earnings-q2-2024-earnings.html">exceeded Wall Street's expectations</a>, but volume in North America for the Frito-Lay and beverages businesses has been declining as consumers have pushed back against years of price hikes.Athina Kanioura, PepsiCo's chief strategy and transformation officer, described investments in PepsiCo's seed-to-shelf supply chain as the "glue" in the company's future ability to deliver higher profits and revenue growth. And it all begins with the work done in the field.The farmers PepsiCo works with own more than 4 million acres in North America alone, providing ingredients such as potatoes and corn for its chips and other snacks.The thinking is that by using less water and fertilizer to produce those ingredients, the company can boost its profits in an industry that operates on thin margins. It says that it works with farmers to ensure they have the technology to harvest those ingredients efficiently and that it subsidizes some of the cost of that technology for smaller farms.It also says it has partnered with companies including CropTrak, AgroScout, and Microsoft to monitor production, analyze crop health, track where crops go, and better understand where to plant crops so they can thrive.<h2 id="32588e1b-3851-4dba-89dd-e96f1f24974a">Distribution workers do fewer manual tasks</h2>PepsiCo is also rethinking how it fulfills orders and distributes its products, which is changing the work of the company's many employees in manufacturing and distribution. With more automation, workers are doing fewer physical tasks, like driving a forklift, and far more oversight of the machines taking over those tasks.Workers at manufacturing facilities and distribution centers and the unions that represent them often bristle at automation, which can lead to layoffs. Large food manufacturers that have announced closings and layoffs this year include PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, and Campbell Soup. Often those announcing layoffs don't directly attribute them to automation but to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/tyson-foods-close-iowa-pork-plant-with-1200-workers-2024-03-11/">soft sales</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/campbell-soup-closing-inefficient-sites-415-job-losses/717224/">older facilities that can't keep up with demand</a>, or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/pepsicos-quaker-plant-illinois-closing-layoffs/712954/">even product recalls</a>. PepsiCo declined to comment on the reason for its layoffs.Food producers are also confronting a generational shift. Research from McKinsey suggests that while many Gen Zers express interest in working in manufacturing, not enough of them are taking jobs at factories to fill vacancies, and that they're <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/from-hire-to-inspire-getting-and-keeping-gen-z-in-manufacturing">more likely than older workers to leave those jobs</a>.PepsiCo argues that it can't continue to have employees perform most tasks manually while cost-effectively churning out enough food and drinks to meet demand. So it trains workers to monitor autonomous machines and ensure they're working safely and efficiently. "You are taking an analog worker, and you are making them a digital worker," Kanioura said.Its modernization efforts include how it puts together variety packs, such as those containing several small bags of Ruffles, Doritos, Cheetos, and Fritos: While workers used to assemble the packs, machines are increasingly taking over.Even as it has invested in automation, PepsiCo's total workforce has swelled: It grew by 20%, to 318,000, over the five years that ended in 2023.<h2 id="49fb841a-5ce1-4f54-8631-44d495ffdaa5">Creating more intelligent warehouses</h2>PepsiCo says it considers most of the company's warehouses "intelligent" facilities with tech that allows employees to track and control the movement of goods.It uses sensors and AI to help with predictive maintenance checks and quality-control measures — for example, using patterns to identify a machine or vehicle that's likely to malfunction and cause problems later on. Rather than suffering a shutdown when a motor breaks on the tortilla-chip line, PepsiCo can preemptively replace the motor the next time the line is scheduled for downtime."Being able to turn that data into action is important," Roden said.

PepsiCo is using robotics and AI-powered crop planning to transform its supply chain

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Nuclear-power stocks fell after regulators voted against a deal between Amazon and Talen Energy.</li><li>The deal would permit a Talen nuclear plant to provide an Amazon data center with extra power.</li></ul>Nuclear-power stocks slumped on Monday after US regulators barred a plant from supplying extra power to an <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/amzn-stock">Amazon</a> data center.The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected the deal between Amazon and <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/tln-stock">Talen Energy</a> late last week. According to FERC Commissioner Mark Christie, approving the proposal would <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/commissioner-christies-concurrence-pjms-susquehanna-co-location-proposal-er24-2172">spark consequences for grid reliability and consumer costs</a>.Talen dropped as much as 8.6% on Monday, unleashing a broader downturn in the nuclear power sector. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/vst-stock">Vistra</a> slid 6.7% at intraday lows, while <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/ceg-stock">Constellation Energy</a> tanked 13%.These firms have gained sharply as AI data centers have driven US <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/ai-power-grid-demand-utility-bill-outlook-electricity-ev-2024-7">power demand to new heights</a>. In recent months, tech companies have come to embrace nuclear power to run these centers, fueling underlying equities.Both Vistra and Constellation are among the top S&amp;P 500 performers this year. In a similar fashion to Talen, Constellation reached a 20-year deal with <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/msft-stock">Microsoft</a> to power its data center inBut the FERC's decision sets a precedent that could challenge nuclear data center deals."FERC's decision will have a chilling effect on economic development in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey," Talen <a target="_blank" href="https://ir.talenenergy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/talen-energy-statement-ferc-order-rejecting-susquehanna-isa">said in a statement</a>.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-04/us-power-stocks-slump-after-regulator-rejects-nuclear-agreement">Bloomberg</a>, the firm was already paid $650 million in March by Amazon Web Services for a data center campus next to the Pennsylvania plant at issue. AWS also signed a long-term deal to purchase power from the plant.Other nuclear equities also suffered on Monday, with the Sam Altman-backed firm <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/oklo-stock">Oklo</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/nne-stock">Nano Nuclear Energy</a> both falling by double-digits.

Nuclear-power stocks slide after regulator rejects plan to power Amazon data center

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon are venturing into nuclear power for data centers.</li><li>Nuclear power is reliable and carbon-free, crucial for AI-driven energy demands and climate goals.</li></ul>Nuclear power's stock is rising thanks to artificial intelligence's insatiable appetite for electricity.Tech giants including Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon have struck deals in nuclear power this year in hopes of supplying their data centers with carbon-free electricity. The deals have buoyed the confidence of global financial institutions, 14 of which on Monday <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-power-banks-support-boost-output-microsoft-larry-ellison-2024-9">endorsed a goal to triple nuclear energy</a> by 2050. Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are among the signatories.It's a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-power-diablo-canyon-california-newsom-germany-japan">remarkable shift</a>, given that just five years ago the nuclear plant at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania shut down in part because it couldn't compete with cheap natural gas. The site was also a symbol of the risks of nuclear energy after one reactor partially melted down in 1979. Now Constellation Energy, the owner of Three Mile Island, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/three-mile-island-nuclear-plant-reopens-power-microsoft-ai-push-2024-9">plans to spend $1.6 billion over three years to reopen one reactor</a> that had safely operated for decades. Microsoft agreed to buy the electricity <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-plan-double-triple-data-center-capacity-2024-4">for its growing fleet of data centers</a>."It's only recently that people have come to appreciate the importance of [nuclear power] from a reliability perspective," Kathleen Barrón, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Constellation, told Semafor during an event at Climate Week in New York City. "But even more so, that there just are no other resources on the grid that can operate when customers need it, consistently, without any air pollution or carbon emissions."All those factors make nuclear attractive to Big Tech companies, which made lofty climate promises but are still generating more emissions as they aggressively invest in electricity-hungry data centers. Earlier this year, <a target="_blank" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/e/evib?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=0dbc78003e564580b4e87c95698d0e02&amp;_e=8U4bXw3HX8KDYSsPzOolGOCYuGSttGyuSAzwaclc6RLhG88pp5ZvENg7wFUaiGhas0CJQxM0PQO-UKfMbE1JyA%3D%3D">Microsoft reported a 30% spike in carbon emissions</a> between 2020 to 2023, blaming AI and all the carbon-intensive cement, steel, and microchips needed to build data centers. Google reported a nearly 50% increase in emissions since 2019, citing similar drivers.That climate dilemma isn't slowing the AI boom. Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple are on track to spend a combined <a target="_blank" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/a/click?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=0dbc78003e564580b4e87c95698d0e02&amp;_e=wWZA5Xoinj0sH2ZX3ugl_OzAKGrCiaQhI0tCdnLiYoGrY2K9XAQ9DXH1nfuXy-AVxR1I2cM5WdV4N__NEHyRgYfxy7pVcK_RoGnlzbfAMw0peO387D2ee0ZCHzEGiY5546lzxSGycKFUCR40aeM1KaciKqift090lKwLtQ-AzllnLeaMvGjH2Szgt7qYcBgSDAgaI_Mdcc7iH_aEDW-Bgh1nvCAEJ7ASTgU-RZ0dP8JOjrfM1r3GFWQ2YdecsSNiiMOGH1mQj_CO9LoLsPhlRawPXj44fGS-XAxiJXAiO3DhIdN0_A7HQjBdVIFETbbhh0ciFuWaBCHhWzClc4RKuys42wiLQFOopc9nCjwKVz5SFVkf_agp-59KZ3ilLlt162SzG2LHLnyVB6tPBRUdSpzM4IhgspSGtjURjCI2Cd8%3D">$200 billion</a> on fixed assets this year, with the majority of that money going toward data centers to support AI, according to a Bernstein research note from earlier this year. In the next five years, that spending could surpass $1 trillion.All the growth risks taxing an already-stressed power grid that uses a lot of dirty natural gas. The pipeline of data centers in places like Virginia and Arizona has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/data-centers-energy-demand-utilities-green-renewable-2023-10">already slowed the green energy transition</a>. The Electric Power Research Institute, an energy think tank, forecast that data centers could consume up to 9% of US electricity annually by 2030, compared to an estimated 4% today. And while tech companies are the largest buyers of solar, wind, and battery storage, it still isn't enough to meet the 24/7 needs of data centers.<h2 id="a02dd0e8-7117-4d44-8d2a-36fd9deff1d0">Delayed and over budget</h2>While nuclear power is around the clock, critics warn that it isn't a realistic solution to the data center problem. Hyperscalers need energy now and restarting a mothballed nuclear plant — let alone building new ones — can take years or even a decade. It's also an expensive gamble. Nuclear projects have a track record of going over budget. The most recent new US nuclear plant, built by Georgia Power, <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-nuclear-power-plant-vogtle-rates-costs-75c7a413cda3935dd551be9115e88a64">arrived seven years late and $17 billion over budget</a>.Three Mile Island could run into similar problems, said Tim Judson, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, which advocates against nuclear power and for renewables like solar and wind. He noted that the plant needed licensing approvals from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and that reviving an old reactor that's been idle for five years could prove technically challenging.Barrón of Constellation Energy acknowledged that even with new federal tax breaks for nuclear energy, Three Mile Island wouldn't be economical to run without Microsoft, which agreed to pay a premium for electricity. Restarting the plant requires NRC approval following a safety and environmental review, as well as permits from state and local agencies. Constellation Energy said it will pursue a separate license renewal that extends operations to at least 2054.Judson is also concerned that Constellation Energy is talking to a regional grid operator, PJM, about putting the nuclear plant in front of a long queue of solar, wind, and battery storage projects waiting to be connected to the grid. He argued there'd be no need for a nuclear revival if renewable projects cleared those roadblocks faster.Nuclear's supporters disagree, including Arshad Mansoor, president and CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute. He told BI that no amount of renewables and battery storage will be enough to bring the economy to net-zero emissions. Data centers aren't the only driver of power demand. Electric vehicles and new manufacturing plants need electricity, too.Mansoor thinks the AI boom will actually accelerate a greener economy, noting that tech companies sparked greater deployment of wind and solar power."Now they've created a second spark, and it will not just be nuclear," Mansoor said.He predicted greater buy-in for geothermal, long-duration battery storage, and carbon capture and storage at gas plants — many more of which will be built in the coming years, Mansoor said.He also echoed what many tech executives said when defending AI's energy consumption: It will reduce emissions in the long run, such as by helping utilities manage the grid more efficiently and deploy renewables at peak demand times.However, it still isn't clear whether such benefits can offset soaring emissions.

Tech bros and bankers rally around nuclear power to fuel AI's rapid rise

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Bitcoin's upcoming halving could make it harder for smaller mining companies. </li><li>The CEO of Core Scientific, a mining industry leader, anticipates higher costs post-halving.</li></ul>Bitcoin's price has soared this year with <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/spot-bitcoin-etf-crypto-investing-analysis-sec-approval-gary-gensler-2024-1?_gl=1*as9sry*_ga*MjA5NTAyMzYyOS4xNjYyNDcwMDc5*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTcxMDc3NjIwMC4xNzUyLjEuMTcxMDc3OTAwOC4wLjAuMA..&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">ETF-fueled demand</a> surging ahead of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-halving-cryptocurrency-markets-investors-etf-spot-btc-supply-demand-2024-3?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;_gl=1*ubzig8*_ga*MjA5NTAyMzYyOS4xNjYyNDcwMDc5*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTcxMTU0NTkzMi4xNzg3LjEuMTcxMTU0NjEyOC4wLjAuMA..">the April halving event</a> that market experts say could deliver a shock to the supply of the cryptocurrency.The halving is a seismic event for miners, and the industry and infrastructure responsible for bringing tokens online. After April, the reward given to miners will be cut in half, from 6.25 bitcoin per block to 3.125.Adam Sullivan, the CEO of Core Scientific, one of the largest bitcoin miners in North America, said larger firms will have the advantage of scale <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-halving-cryptocurrency-markets-investors-etf-spot-btc-supply-demand-2024-3">going into the halving</a>.Sullivan expects to see the bitcoin network continue to spread out and decentralize, and smaller mining companies may have to look for more cost-effective solutions as infrastructure and electricity become more expensive and the rewards shrink."We expect to see more miners in smaller sites with lower power costs," Sullivan told Business Insider. "While power costs in some developing economies may be lower than in developed nations, bitcoin miners must evaluate the relative risks associated with operating in these locations to arrive at the best outcome for their business."Following the halving, 6,000 mining computers will be refurbished and sold to miners overseas, mainly in developing-economy countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uruguay, according to a Colorado-based crypto wholesaler. Developing economies tend to have shakier electricity grids, often driven by "less reliable transmission infrastructure," Sullivan said.More mining activity in those places could lead to more risks, increased downtime, and power interruptions.Higher operating costs, in Sullivan's view, could be worth the bigger up-front investment if it means greater certainty for grid uptime and business."Lower power pricing with greater downtime may negate the benefits of establishing operations in those locations," he said. Ahead of the halving, miners have pulled in record profits, according to Deutsche Bank data. Strategists wrote in a March note that bitcoin's hot streak resulted in <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/bitcoin-price-rally-crypto-miner-revenue-record-halving-etfs-supply-2024-3">all-time highs for daily mining revenue.</a>Still, as Core Scientific's Sullivan noted, the lower miner rewards post-halving can lead to an immediate reduction in profits."The last halving took place in May 2020, reducing the miner reward from 12.5 to 6.25 bitcoins per block," Deutsche strategists said. "Miners saw their profits significantly reduced overnight. Many were forced to shut down outdated rigs that became unprofitable to operate."But even as it's about to become more difficult for miners, past cycles show that the halving event itself is jet fuel for bitcoin's price. In the 12 months after the last three halvings in 2012, 2016, and 2020, the price of bitcoin climbed 8,069%, 284%, and 559%, respectively."The 2024 macro context is so favorable to bitcoin, it feels unlikely that miners will throw in the towel if they are remotely profitable," Ruth Foxe Blader, a venture capital investor with Foxe Capital, told Business Insider. "Simply put, if the unit economics still work, then we won't see a significant change in the mining landscape."

Bitcoin's halving could force miners to risk operating in cheaper locations with less reliable electrical grids

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Vietnam this week, and the two countries signed various agreements.</li><li>The trip isn't a good look for the US after it elevated ties with Vietnam last year.</li></ul>Wanted by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/icc-cements-putin-pariah-arrest-warrant-russia-war-crimes-ukraine-2023-3">International Criminal Court</a>, Russian President Vladimir Putin still traveled to Vietnam on a two-day visit, where he was warmly welcomed.On Thursday, the Russian leader wrapped up his trip to Vietnam. The two countries signed about a dozen <a target="_blank" href="https://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/1657836/viet-nam-russia-further-cooperate-in-education-nuclear-oil-and-gas.html">cooperation agreements</a> covering a range of subjects, including education and plans for a nuclear science and technology center.Vietnam isn't a member of the ICC, so Putin was safe there. Russia and Vietnam also have a long history going back to the Soviet era, so his visit isn't surprising.But Putin's quick trip — which came less than a year after the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/11/joint-leaders-statement-elevating-united-states-vietnam-relations-to-a-comprehensive-strategic-partnership/">US upgraded its ties with Vietnam</a> — isn't a good look for Washington or the West, which have imposed sweeping restrictions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.<h2 id="04e744cb-eb6a-4bf9-8f06-15554fe5f5cd">Vietnam is a strategic partner for the US and its allies</h2>The US is among Vietnam's largest trading partners, last year accounting for trade worth <a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://haiquanonline.com.vn/nam-thu-3-lien-tiep-thuong-mai-viet-nam-hoa-ky-dat-hon-100-ty-usd-182456.html">$111 billion</a>. Russia's trade with Vietnam over the same period was just worth <a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://vneconomy.vn/asean-nga-tang-cuong-hop-tac-kinh-te-trong-boi-canh-lenh-trung-phat.htm">$3.6 billion</a>.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-upgrades-relations-with-vietnam-strategic-partnership-2024-03-07/">Australia</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-upgrades-ties-with-japan-highest-level-2023-11-27/">Japan</a> have also elevated their relationships with Vietnam over the past year, underscoring the Southeast Asian nation's strategic role in a changing geopolitical landscape.Hoang Thi Ha, a senior fellow at the <a target="_blank" href="https://fulcrum.sg/putins-visit-to-vietnam-when-the-past-weighs-on-the-present/">ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute</a> in Singapore, wrote on Wednesday that Putin's visit could jeopardize these newly forged partnerships because the optics were so stark.Western allies might rethink "Vietnam's reliability as a strategic partner in the region," Hoang wrote."While Vietnam is not directly aiding Russia's war efforts, its warm reception of Putin could be perceived as ending foreign legitimacy to his regime and undermining US-led international efforts to oppose Russia's war in Ukraine," wrote Hoang, who's also a co-coordinator of the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme at ISEAS.Vietnam is a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-trade-war-covid-companies-moving-supply-chains-2022-12">manufacturing hot spot</a> for many multinational companies diversifying their operations outside China — the world's factory floor for the past 40 years — to hedge against supply-chain risks.<h2 id="a7855eb1-c223-49b1-975a-487c603bdc80">The US is trying to play it cool — but really isn't</h2>The US Treasury secretary, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/yellen-says-us-ties-with-vietnam-dont-require-it-sever-ties-with-russia-china-2024-06-20/">Janet Yellen</a>, played it cool, saying on Thursday that America's elevated relationship with Vietnam didn't mean Hanoi had to break up with Moscow or Beijing."Vietnam has a policy and strategy of working collaboratively with many different countries, and it is not a condition of our partnership that they sever their ties to Russia or to China," Yellen said at a news conference in Atlanta.Still, the US embassy in Vietnam issued a <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/vietnam-russia-putin-visit-98891f7ec2565b79e4c255a7d7d2f6ed">sharp criticism of the visit</a>, saying that "no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities."Hot on the heels of Putin's trip, the US <a target="_blank" href="https://www.state.gov/assistant-secretary-kritenbrinks-travel-to-hanoi/">State Department</a> said on Thursday that Washington was sending Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, to Vietnam.The department said Kritenbrink would meet senior Vietnamese officials on Friday and Saturday to underscore "strong US commitment" to Washington and Hanoi's strategic partnership.<h2 id="763689b7-f75f-4afa-b8c9-4b25d15fe5dd" class="premium">Hanoi's sentimental attachment to the past has influenced its pragmatism</h2>While Hanoi has a much-touted "<a target="_blank" href="https://eastasiaforum.org/2022/12/23/the-careful-balancing-act-of-vietnams-bamboo-diplomacy/">bamboo diplomacy</a>" policy of flexibility and balanced relations with diverse powers, it's still attached to its past.Hoang at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute wrote that this sentimentalism influenced the pragmatism that had marked Hanoi's foreign policy for the past two decades.Hoang wrote that it was also a smart political move, as a segment of Vietnamese still held "a deep fondness for Russia.""Many still feel nostalgic for the Soviet Union and grateful for its support to Vietnam during the wars against the French and Americans," Hoang added. "Some are extremely enamored with Putin as an anti-Western symbol and a strongman leader, a phenomenon coined locally as '<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/old-hanoians-hail-world-leader-putin-ahead-expected-visit-2024-06-17/">Putin-mania</a>.'"

Supply-chain hot spot Vietnam rolled out the red carpet for Putin, and the US is trying to act cool

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Swiss startup Transmutex's technology reduces long-term radioactive waste.</li><li>The technology could further entice AI companies to use nuclear energy to power their data centers.</li></ul>Ancient alchemists once tried transmuting elements, toying with metals like lead to create gold. That pursuit of quick riches has since been abandoned, but scientists are now using a similar idea to level up one of the world's most promising energy sources.Transmutex, a Swiss startup, is pioneering a new method for "nuclear transmutation" that not only destroys nuclear waste but can also turn it back into energy — solving a key problem in nuclear energy production.Scientists have long considered nuclear energy one of the cleanest and most reliable forms of energy production. However, the waste it creates must be stored in deep geological repositories for thousands of years to prevent the environment from being exposed to harmful radiation. Transmutex says its technology can "transmute" 99% of the world's high-level radioactive waste into new fuel.Nagra, the Swiss agency that manages nuclear waste, validated the claim as a "theoretical possibility" in a letter to the company last month.Switzerland, however, has pivoted away from nuclear energy, in part because of the safety concerns made apparent by Japan's Fukushima disaster in 2011. But such disasters are rare and many other countries — like the United States and Saudi Arabia, for example — are betting on nuclear energy as the most efficient and sustainable option."To reach our goal of net zero by 2050, we have to at least triple our current nuclear capacity," US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in May.Tech companies at the forefront of the AI revolution are also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/data-centers-amazon-ai-nuclear-power-grid-2024-5">turning to nuclear energy</a> to power their vast AI data centers.Transmutex CEO Franklin Servan-Schreiber believes the company can help these businesses go nuclear by destroying that long-term waste."If we know how to deal with the waste, even if it takes a long time, we still know that in the future there is a limit to that waste, which is not gonna be a million years. That's the key," he told Business Insider in an interview.<h2 id="74dcc8b6-0d19-499a-83b1-07db6a1d5d37">A new fuel cycle for nuclear power</h2><div type="image" title="Transmutex" height="2053" width="3825" msid="111139130" hostid="261" sizebytes="863978"></div>Transmutex's technology uses high-energy <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/physics-atoms-empty-space-2016-9">subatomic particles known as neutrons</a> to destroy highly radioactive nuclear waste. While it can take hundreds of thousands of years for nuclear waste to decay to safe radiation levels, Transmutex says its technology can shorten that timeframe to just decades.Servan-Schreiber says that over time, this system can also turn that waste into fuel that can be used again in nuclear power plants — a sort of nuclear recycling program."Because you're able to burn waste and release energy, overall the process is very profitable," Cameron Porter, a venture capitalist who manages <a target="_blank" href="https://www.steelatlas.vc/">Steel Atlas</a> and is an investor in Transmutex, told Business Insider.Nuclear physicists say the company's technology avoids one of the biggest concerns with nuclear energy: that the same fuel used to power nuclear plants can also be used to manufacture atomic weapons. "We don't want that to happen," Andrei Afanasev, a professor of physics at George Washington University's Institute for Nuclear Studies, told Business Insider.Transmutex avoids this risk because it doesn't produce plutonium, a key element for making nuclear bombs.The technology is also more efficient, Afanasev said. According to the Department of Energy, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/ne/nuclear-fuel-cycle#:~:text=Spent%20nuclear%20fuel%20can%20be,of%20operation%20in%20a%20reactor.">spent nuclear fuel</a> can still have about 90% of its potential energy even after five years of operation in a reactor.With nuclear reactors, "you just throw away a big chunk of energy that you could use for everybody," he said. "So this technology addresses this issue. They can extract more energy from the existing fuel."<h2 id="a5fab1a3-b2c5-49ef-90b5-c67ba57034aa">AI firms on the lookout for energy solutions</h2>The AI industry is looking for new, more reliable power sources as the race to develop artificial intelligence ramps up."Energy, not compute, will be the No. 1 bottleneck to AI progress," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-o5YbNfmh0">said on the Dwarkesh Podcast</a> in April, referring to the computational resources needed for training and running AI models.Oklo, a startup backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-nuclear-oklo-preparing-go-public-sam-altmans-spac-2023-12">betting on generating nuclear power</a> through small nuclear reactors. Its Aurora reactor can run on spent nuclear waste.<div type="image" title="Franklin Servan-Schreiber, CEO of Transmutex" height="2362" width="3149" msid="111139127" hostid="261" sizebytes="262630"></div>Servan-Schreiber said nuclear power might be the only way to support the industry's massive energy demands."AI requires massive, industrial-scale amounts of energy," Servan-Schreiber said. "Only nuclear power will be able to supply this massive energy demand in a reliable manner. With a technology like Transmutex (only one currently being proposed), the US can build classic uranium-based nuclear plants, such as the Vogtle plant in Georgia, without being burdened with high-level nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years."

This new technology for nuclear power could help fuel the AI revolution

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="6357014" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="energy">energy</keyword> committee at the center of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-blackouts-millions-lost-power-in-storm-went-wrong-2021-2">Texas' energy crisis</a> is the subject of at least two <keyword id="387129" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="lawsuits">lawsuits</keyword> filed Thursday and Friday.</li><li>The suits, filed in Nueces and Harris Counties, allege <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-a-majority-of-lost-power-generation-has-been-from-fossil-fuels-2021-2">ERCOT</a> was aware of the state grid's shortcomings from previous winter <keyword id="6437493" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="outages">outages</keyword>.</li><li>The <a href="https://www.law360.com/articles/1356699/texas-grid-operator-utility-hit-with-10m-suit-over-outages">Harris County lawsuit</a> seeks up to $10 million in damages.</li></ul>At least two lawsuits have been filed alleging that <keyword id="15710" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="texas">Texas</keyword> energy committee at the center of its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-blackouts-millions-lost-power-in-storm-went-wrong-2021-2">ongoing power crisis</a> knew of the state grid's shortcomings from past winter outages.A lawsuit filed in Harris County, which includes Houston, on Thursday is seeking up to $10 million in damages from the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-a-majority-of-lost-power-generation-has-been-from-fossil-fuels-2021-2">Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT</a>, for its lack of preparedness leading up to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-fedex-ups-american-airlines-impacted-winter-storm-south-2021-2">Winter Storm Uri</a> that hit much of the southern US on February 14. It was filed by Fort Bend County residents Mauricio and Daysi Marin. Mauricio Marin still relies on oxygen after recovering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and alleges the utility provider did not adequately prepare him for an extended outage, according to a <a href="https://www.law360.com/articles/1356699/texas-grid-operator-utility-hit-with-10m-suit-over-outages">report from Law360</a>."<keyword id="5891952" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="ercot">ERCOT</keyword>'s forecast for the maximum electricity that would be consumed far under-estimated the reality," the lawsuit said. "As a result, millions were plunged into darkness and cold as a result of a loss of electricity."<a href="https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20489323-original-petition-fs-ercot-lawsuit-nueces-county">Another lawsuit</a> filed in Nueces County on Friday goes a step further, alleging ERCOT was aware of its energy supply's weaknesses following similar winter outages in 1989 and 2011 and could have done more to winterize its system prior to the February 14 storm that left roughly 4 million Texans without electricity and heat at its peak. Millions of residents are still without water."This cold weather event and its effects on the Texas energy grid were neither unprecedented, nor unexpected, nor unforeseen," the Nueces County suit alleges.A spokeswoman for ERCOT said the committee hadn't yet reviewed the lawsuits, but will respond accordingly once they do."Our thoughts are with all Texans who have and are suffering due to this past week," the spokeswoman told Insider. "However, because approximately 46% of privately-owned generation tripped offline this past Monday morning, we are confident that our grid operators made the right choice to avoid a statewide blackout."ERCOT investigated past outages and recommended winterizing at-risk generators and production plants, the Nueces County suit says. In the winter of 2011, however, generators that failed in 1989 failed again, indicating that ERCOT's previous mitigation efforts "were not adequate, or were not maintained," according to an investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee report in 2011 that is cited in the lawsuit."The massive amount of generator failures that were experienced raises the question whether it would have been helpful to increase reserve levels going into the event," the 2011 FERC report said.The suit alleges many of the same generators, transmitters, and distributors failed again starting February 14 in what could have been an avoidable catastrophe. The suit does not indicate the amount it is seeking from ERCOT and other energy providers.Roughly 81,000 customers are still experiencing outages as of Saturday morning, according to <a href="https://poweroutage.us/area/state/texas">a company that tracks outages across the state</a>. Temperatures were forecast to rise on Saturday as well, providing some relief to Texans who had gone days without heat in freezing temperatures. When the unusual winter storm struck the state <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insider-energy-texas-blackouts-bill-gates-dishes-on-climate-energy-2021-2">power plants malfunctioned</a> right when demand for electricity shot up as people tried to stay warm. As a result, ERCOT was forced to cut power to millions of households because there wasn't enough energy to go around.As of Saturday, at least 37 people had died as a result of the storm and the resulting outages, according to a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-set-stage-its-energy-crisis-more-80-years-ago-n1258341">NBC report</a> Friday. Many died from <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/02/16/texas-harris-county-sees-more-than-200-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-cases-amid-power-outages/?sh=225fc0b236c0">carbon monoxide poisoning</a> from household generators or in their cars while trying to stay warm, while others died from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/us/texas-deaths-winter-storm.html">hypothermia</a> and exposure to brutally cold temperatures. Many areas are still under a boil water notice, meaning drinking water could be contaminated, as much of the state's grid comes back online.

At least two lawsuits filed against Texas' energy committee claim it was aware of shortcomings in the state's energy supply from previous winter storms

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The power grid is too old and simple for the growth of extreme weather, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-ev-sales-prices-problem-transportation-2024-1">EVs</a>, and renewable energy.</li><li>Chattanooga's utility built a $280 million smart grid, creating $2.7 billion in economic value.</li></ul>It pays to be smart and Chattanooga, Tennessee, has put a whole new meaning to the phrase. The city is home to one of the nation's most advanced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-power-grid-failure-economist-galbraith-left-leaning-utility-deregulation-2021-2">power grids</a>.The local utility, called EPB of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-tennessee-pros-cons-nashville-memphis-chattanooga-2023-2">Chattanooga</a>, spent $280 million to refurbish its power system with smart technologies to make a "smart grid."In its first 10 years, the project generated $2.7 billion worth of economic value, according to an EPB-funded <a target="_blank" href="https://assets.epb.com/media/Lobo%20-%20Ten%20Years%20of%20Fiber%20Infrastructure%20in%20Hamilton%20County%20TN_Published.pdf">study</a>. That's not a bad return on investment.<h2>The US grid needs its own internet</h2><div type="image" title="worker in hardhat wearing harness stands on large metal frame above a wide river with homes on the other side" height="1500" width="2250" msid="109795973" hostid="261" sizebytes="151842"></div>Smart grids like this offer a cleaner, safer, and more efficient future with lower <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-texas-residents-hit-with-soaring-electric-bills-winter-storms-2021-2">electric bills</a> and fewer blackouts — which is great because the way our energy system has operated for the past century isn't going to cut it for the next one.In most places, energy starts with a giant coal-fired power plant. From there, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chpe-transmission-line-hydropower-renewable-energy-electrical-grid-2024-4">transmission lines zip the electricity</a> to a substation, which lowers the voltage and pumps it into distribution lines to homes and businesses.<div type="image" title="Traditional Grid flowchart" height="2400" width="3560" msid="109795974" hostid="261" sizebytes="194952"></div>Electricity flows one way, from the power plant to your home, and it doesn't do much else. It's simple — and that was fine for a long time. But it's becoming a problem as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-residents-moving-leaving-climate-change-refugees-hurricanes-flood-2023-2">climate crisis</a> complicates our energy supply.Increasingly extreme weather events are battering our electrical infrastructure and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackouts-power-outages-more-common-climate-change-electric-grid-infrastructure-2023-3">causing outages</a> that cost American businesses an estimated $150 billion a year, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/department-energy-report-explores-us-advanced-small-modular-reactors-boost-grid">according</a> to the US Department of Energy.Meanwhile, climate solutions put their own pressure on the grid. Wind farms and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-passive-income-side-hustle-selling-electricity-neighbors-solar-panels-2023-12">solar panels</a> feed energy into the system inconsistently, making it harder to pace supply with the day-to-day fluxes of electricity use.Renewables also complicate things by sheer numbers — rather than from 12,000 power plants, in just a few decades, the US could be drawing its power from 1 million dispersed sources, from hydropower dams to rooftop solar panels.At the same time, electrification, including the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-electric-car-ford-mustang-mach-e-road-trip-charging-2021-8">rise of electric vehicles</a>, is increasing demand.<div type="image" title="A hand plugging in an EV charger" height="3477" width="4786" msid="109795975" hostid="261" sizebytes="418508"></div>To cope, experts say, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/live-off-the-grid-tiny-house-no-electricity-2023-12">the grid</a> needs its own internet, stat. They're calling for a digitized "smart grid.""It's imperative," Kevin Schneider, the chief engineer studying power systems at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-discovers-new-material-to-reduce-lithium-use-in-batteries-2024-1">Pacific Northwest National Laboratory</a>, told Business Insider.Without <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-energy-companies-remotely-raised-smart-thermostats-temperatures-2021-6">smart technologies</a>, the grid will be inefficient, leading to economic losses and slowing the transition to clean energy. An outdated grid could also fall victim to more and more blackouts."If people are really asleep at the wheel, and we keep pushing further, eventually you can get to the hyperbole of a third-world power system," Schneider said.The American Society of Civil Engineers gave <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/construction-jobs-housing-skilled-trades-infrastructure-electricians-future-work-opportunities-2023-11">US energy infrastructure</a> a C-minus grade in 2021, citing poor reliability and increasing threats from severe weather.But a Chattanooga-like transformation nationwide could save us all money, reduce <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-fashion-environmental-impact-pollution-emissions-waste-water-2019-10">carbon emissions</a>, and prevent blackouts.<h2>What is a smart grid?</h2>A key job of any power grid is to balance electricity supply and demand. Too much power could damage the system. Not enough could leave some people in the dark.A smart grid automates this balancing act using a system of meters, sensors, controllers, and computers.<div type="image" title="Smart Grid Flowchart" height="2400" width="3560" msid="109795976" hostid="261" sizebytes="288888"></div>Smart grids can also help businesses, factory operators, or homeowners make better-informed decisions about when and how to use energy, whether they want to save money, reduce emissions, or both."It can send information along with electricity," Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist studying smart grids at the University of Texas at Austin, told BI.For example, "it can control a fleet of air conditioners and maybe can turn them off for 15 minutes at a time" to optimize energy costs, he said.<h2>How Chattanooga made its grid smart</h2><div type="image" title="utility worker wearing safety goggles and yellow hard hat standing in a cherry picker holds onto power line cable next to utility pole above a green lawn in front of house among green trees" height="1500" width="2250" msid="109795977" hostid="261" sizebytes="345380"></div>EPB of Chattanooga first needed a system to communicate with all the smart devices it would install. It couldn't make significant upgrades to its system without it."Everything that you looked to do, the limitation was communications," David Wade, the CEO of EPB of Chattanooga, told BI.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/fiber-optic">Fiber optics</a> would do the trick — and allow EPB to start offering TV, internet, and phone services.With the prospect of revenue and a mission as a public utility to improve quality of life, the EPB board of directors approved a plan in 2008.With $169 million from a municipal bond issue for the project, workers started digging trenches and climbing poles to lay new fiber optic cables across Hamilton County.<div type="image" title="utility workers in hard hats handle thick bundles of fiber optic cable which a vehicle arm is lifting upward toward power lines" height="1500" width="2000" msid="109795978" hostid="261" sizebytes="398786"></div>The project was supposed to take 10 years, but a $111.5 million grant from the Department of Energy accelerated the process, basically cutting time to completion in half. The utility finished building its smart grid in 2012.In just four years, EPB had laid its fiber-optic network and linked it to more than 180,000 smart meters in customers' homes and businesses. It also installed about 1,200 automated smart switches, which open or close the flow of power in response to automated software or remote commands from human operators.The smart switches can rapidly reroute energy around fallen power lines that would otherwise cause a blackout. That means the system self-heals, restoring power in seconds.<div type="image" title="long bar-shaped black device with cylinder on top connected to power lines" height="1500" width="2250" msid="109795980" hostid="261" sizebytes="108992"></div>As a result, EPB has reported a 55% annual decrease in outage minutes, or about 19 million outage minutes a year.Previously, dispatchers had to drive to each switch to manually open or close it."It's making the same decisions that we were making as dispatchers and humans, only probably making them a multitude of times faster," Wade said.In the following decade, EPB spent another $115.5 million expanding its smart grid to new housing and commercial developments.<h2>Smart grids are more efficient</h2><div type="image" title="electricity substation illustration with machines smiling computer screens and power lines" height="1000" width="1000" msid="109795981" hostid="261" sizebytes="74260"></div>Because the smart grid automates the balance of supply and demand — helping ensure there's no more energy in the system than people are using at different times of the day — it's more efficient.That reduces energy waste and emissions.In the EPB-funded study period, 2014 to 2020, the EPB grid emitted 8,300 fewer tons of CO2 than it would have if it weren't smart. That's almost as much as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-celebrities-ranked-on-private-jet-co2-emissions-2022-7">Taylor Swift's private jet emitted</a> in the first half of 2022.Those carbon savings came partly from reduced energy use and partly because of reduced truck miles since dispatchers no longer had to drive to every switch for every outage.It's not just blackouts. On a larger scale, a smarter grid could adapt better to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/great-american-land-rush-land-housing-wind-power-solar-panels-2022-11">surge of renewables</a>.<div type="image" title="wind turbine in a field of turbines against blue sky mountains in the background" height="1533" width="2300" msid="109795983" hostid="261" sizebytes="246814"></div>For example, take the Pacific Intertie — a highway of transmission lines that carry hydropower from the Columbia River all the way down to Southern California. The system may need to send power in the other direction more often as solar energy proliferates in the state's south."We had a cold snap up north. It was relatively sunny down south, and suddenly power was flowing the other direction," Schneider said.Having software and automated equipment to handle that process could make it much more efficient and help the system quickly adapt to unforeseen changes.In other words, a smart grid is designed to do more than one thing."We're going to start to see more things like that, where the system was designed to do X, and we're seeing ABCDEFG," Schneider said.<h2>Smart grids can bring huge economic benefits</h2><div type="image" title="illustration of smiling houses with solar panels and wind turbines and cars plugged into electric charging stations" height="1000" width="1000" msid="109795984" hostid="261" sizebytes="78854"></div>Even Congress knows the nation needs a smart grid. In 2007, it directed the Department of Energy to start doling out grants to make it happen.That's the program that gave EPB a boost, and it has spent billions on smart-grid <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/america-build-infrastructure-transportation-housing-regulation-environment-2023-11">infrastructure nationwide</a>.It seems like the kick start worked. In 2020, the department estimated that smart-grid investments would rise to $16.4 billion annually by 2026 — compared with about $6.4 billion in 2018.Though a smart grid requires a big up-front investment, it can save a lot of money down the line.<div type="image" title="utility worker in jeans sweatshirt and hardhat sits and controls a long arm that's raising a large rectangular metal device toward power lines above" height="1500" width="2250" msid="109795985" hostid="261" sizebytes="155530"></div>The study of EPB's smart grid, for instance, valued the benefits to each Hamilton County resident at about $646 a year in the project's first 10 years.That's because the project created more than 9,500 jobs, helped attract new businesses with cost-efficient energy and high-speed internet, and kept customers' electric bills lower than they would have been without the smart grid, the study found. Each household saved about $93 a year on electricity bills.Add it all up, and the smart grid with its fiber-optic internet provided $2.7 billion worth of economic value in its first 10 years, the study found.<h2>The future of our power system</h2>In an ideal future, each new wave of grid technology could integrate seamlessly into the smart system. Large-scale <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-will-only-sell-solar-panels-with-powerwall-2021-4">energy storage</a> could provide backup to power communities when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing enough.Someday, smart appliances in your home could weigh your personal schedule against peak electricity demand and pricing, as well as timing for minimal carbon emissions, to calculate the perfect time to wash your dishes or heat your house. That could translate into major savings on your electricity bill and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fossil-fuel-companies-spend-millions-to-promote-individual-responsibility-2021-3">your carbon footprint</a>."I think tomorrow's grid really becomes: How do you take that massive proliferation of devices and optimize those for the good of the whole?" Wade said.We're still far from that world, but some utilities are rising to the occasion. Nationwide, there are hundreds of microgrids — small, local areas that can operate independently of the larger grid if needed.In the case of a major blackout, they can lock themselves out of the larger grid and rely on their own solar panels or backup batteries. Microgrids are key to a larger smart grid and unprecedented energy resilience.Chattanooga is testing a microgrid around its police- and fire-department headquarters."Today, we are much better positioned than any utility I know of in adding distributed assets to the grid and creating microgrids," Wade said.He added: "It'll get smarter."

Making the power grid 'smart' could save us all money and prevent blackouts. Chattanooga made the $280 million investment.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The climate crisis is intensifying both the summer heat and the winter cold in Texas.</li><li>Some Texans worry the power grid can't handle rising demand from population growth and bad weather.</li></ul>Ty Joerger, 25, was a Texan through and through.The multimedia producer was born in Houston, lived in San Antonio as a child, and grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He hadn't seriously considered living anywhere else.Then came the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/great-texas-freeze-february-2021">Great Texas Freeze</a> of 2021 — when <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-green-power-energy-america-economy-wind-oil-solar-prices-2023-11">the state's strained power grid</a> collapsed in the middle of a deadly winter storm. In a University of Houston survey of 1,500 Texas adults, <a target="_blank" href="https://uh.edu/hobby/winter2021/">69% of respondents said they went without power</a> between February 14 and 20, and about 49% reported interruptions in water supply.Two hundred forty-six people died amid the power outages from conditions including hypothermia and carbon-monoxide poisoning, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported.Joerger — who at the time was living in North Richland Hills, a large suburb of Fort Worth — went without running water for a week, boiling snow for drinking and cooking, he said.<div type="image" title="Texas 2021 snowstorm." height="960" width="1280" msid="106234172" hostid="261" sizebytes="210902"></div>Joerger's disenchantment with his home state was already mounting. He was turned off by its anti-LGBTQ+ climate and recurring mass shootings. What he saw as Texas' failure to reliably deliver electricity to its millions of residents during cold snaps or heat waves was the last straw: In 2022, he and his partner moved to Seattle, attracted by the prospect of a politically and socially progressive environment with favorable weather."I don't want to deal with 110 degrees outside and having to worry if my air conditioning is going to turn off all of a sudden or if my pets are going to overheat," Joerger told Business Insider.With the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.farmersalmanac.com/extended-forecast">Farmers' Almanac forecasting an "unseasonably" cold winter</a> for Texas throughout January and February, some residents worry about the possibility of another grid-threatening event.Even if the state manages to avoid another "snowmageddon," concerns persist about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/07/texas-hottest-summer-2023/">another scorching summer</a>. As the climate crisis intensifies weather extremes, Texans have grown frustrated with what they see as government inaction and failing infrastructure — and it's partially motivating some, including Joerger, to pack up their things and leave.<h2>Texas' power grid is complex — and struggling</h2>The contiguous US is divided into three energy-grid systems: the Eastern, Western, and Texas interconnections. Texas' grid operates independently under the management of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ercot.com/about#:~:text=ERCOT%20is%20a%20membership%2Dbased,Texas%20and%20the%20Texas%20Legislature.">Electric Reliability Council of Texas</a>. ERCOT, a nonprofit, membership-based corporation established in 1970, is governed by a board of directors and overseen by both the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature.As of 2023, it oversaw electricity distribution to <a target="_blank" href="https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/economic-data/energy/2023/ercot-snap.php">more than 26 million customers in Texas</a>, covering about 90% of the state's electric demand, according to the Texas comptroller. As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-population-state-economic-growth-housing-2023-9">Texas' population grows</a>, demand is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/dont-blame-weather-texas-power-shortages-kemp-2022-07-13/">straining the system</a>.ERCOT appears to be trying to serve its customers better. In November, The Texas Tribute reported that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/texas-ercot-budget-increase-public-utility-commission/">ERCOT's budget would increase 40% in 2024</a>, adding almost $119 million to its budget of $287 million. (The funds are set to be generated through fees imposed on businesses supplying electricity to consumers.) The council said it needed the extra funding to comply with new regulations, grow its workforce, and handle legal challenges, the Tribune reported."The Texas grid is more complex, dynamic, and diverse than ever before, and the pace of growth and change is accelerating," ERCOT's lawyers wrote to state legislators, according to the Tribune.<div type="image" title="Power plant on Lake Texas." height="1575" width="2362" msid="106234175" hostid="261" sizebytes="234120"></div>ERCOT said in November that there's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ercot.com/news/release/2023-11-17-ercot-cancels-procurement">a 20% chance of going into emergency operations</a> if a bad winter storm hits.Ed Hirs, an energy-market expert and lecturer at the University of Houston, told the Tribune that given the grid's record high demand over the summer — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/2023/07/25/why-the-texas-power-grid-is-facing-another-crisis-quicktake/7fb03a08-2aff-11ee-a948-a5b8a9b62d84_story.html">which threatened the entire system once again</a> — and its aging condition, the 20% chance should not be tolerated."We should not be accepting this," he said. "This is not what we pay them for."<h2>Power unreliability is one factor driving Texans away</h2>Following the 2021 storm, Joerger had hoped that the state would act fast to significantly improve the grid.By summer 2022, he said, not much had appeared to change from a customer perspective."I can't count the number of days this past summer where ERCOT warned about power usage since they couldn't handle the output," Joerger said.<div type="image" title="A power plant in Texas." height="2804" width="4206" msid="106234178" hostid="261" sizebytes="313768"></div>James McClure, a fifth-generation Texan who lives in Austin, told BI that he's not sticking around to see if ERCOT improved.McClure and his wife, originally from "Southern California by way of Indiana," have been planning to leave Texas for over a year, he said."Two almost-collapses of the power grid in the last two years and the Legislature's inability to do anything about it doesn't fill me with confidence," McClure told BI. "The growing number of over-100-degree days in the summer doesn't help, either."After considering states such as North Carolina and Connecticut, the couple recently purchased a home in Wisconsin and plan to move there in 2024."I'm happy to trade a lot more chilly days where we can bundle up over the hundred degrees we had in Austin," he said. "Neither are fun to be out and about, but we can still go for a walk in chilly and bundled-up weather — where we just can't in too-hot-to-handle weather."

Some people are leaving Texas because of its unreliable energy grid and frequent power outages

<keyword id="45008" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-power" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="tata power" meta.entityname="Tata Power Company Ltd." meta.entityid="12918" meta.seoname="tata-power-company-ltd">Tata Power</keyword> on Friday announced its plans to develop around 10,000 MW of renewable energy capacity, mainly solar energy, in the next five years in <keyword id="6355588" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="rajasthan" source="Orion">Rajasthan</keyword>. "Tata Power plans to have a renewable power portfolio of 10,000 MW in the state of Rajasthan in the next five years," a company statement said. Participating in the ongoing Invest Rajasthan summit in Jaipur, it stated that it plans to develop up to 8,000 MW of utility-scale projects, 1,000 MW of solar rooftops and 1,50,000 solar pumps in the next five years in the state. Tata Power, along with its fully-owned subsidiary <keyword id="12146018" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tata-power-solar" source="Orion">Tata Power Solar</keyword>, will expand its presence in the state to generate clean energy through solar power. The company employs more than 4,500 people in the state, and its expansion projects will generate employment for more than 6,000-8,000 people in the next five years. Dr Praveer Sinha, CEO &amp; MD of Tata Power, said in the statement, "Both in terms of potential and what has been done so far, Rajasthan has today emerged as a role model to produce green energy through solar power. I am happy to be here in Invest Rajasthan summit. With its already strong footprint in the state, Tata Power is fully poised to make Rajasthan future-ready and realise its full potential and emerge as a green powerhouse of the country. We will continue to build on all three businesses -- <keyword id="129822" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="epc" source="Orion">EPC</keyword>, solar pump and solar rooftop -- to the benefit of farmers, industries and common citizens of this frontier state." Rajasthan is an important state for Tata Power's renewable business. It presently has a portfolio of 4,939 MWp. To date, Tata Power has commissioned 2,066 MW in Rajasthan and around 2,873 MW capacity of solar projects are under construction, which will be completed in the next 12-24 months. TP Ajmer Distribution Ltd, a unit of Tata Power, has completed 5 years of operations and has enhanced the consumer experience in Ajmer. Tata Power has ensured safe and reliable supply in Ajmer and also achieved AT&amp;C (Aggregate Technical and Commercial) loss reduction from 22 per cent to 9 per cent. With the support and favourable policies of the government of Rajasthan, the company is looking forward to opportunities for power distribution in various other cities of the state under the collaborative <keyword id="113605" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="public-private-partnership" source="Orion">Public Private Partnership</keyword> (PPP) model and to serve the citizens of Rajasthan with quality power supply. With respect to solar pumps, Tata Power plans to set up around 1,50,000 pumps in the next five years in the state. The company has so far installed nearly 21,600 solar pumps in Jaipur, Hanumangarh, Ganganagar, Jalore and Bikaner. Tata Power through its rooftop services has a cumulative installed capacity of 65 MW in Rajasthan. The company has been doing extensive work for industrial belts like marble, granite and stone crushing etc in Rajasthan located in regions like Ajmer, Sirohi, Rajsamand, Jalore and Makrana. Through its various rooftop offerings, Tata Power has installed over 20 MW of rooftops for these industries. These installations have resulted in cumulative savings of about Rs 20 crore per annum for customers. Tata Power is also working towards setting up a robust EV charging infrastructure in the state to enable the faster transition towards electric mobility. The company has installed over 1,100 home chargers and 100 public chargers in Rajasthan. In the next few years, Tata Power plans to install 10,000 public EV charging points in the state. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/looking-to-invest-in-ipos-heres-how-to-pick-winners-and-spot-the-duds/articleshow/94704252.cms">Looking to invest in IPOs? Here’s how to pick winners and spot the duds</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-group-leads-e-commerce-festive-sales-meesho-is-second-largest-contributor-in-order-volume-redseer/articleshow/94701015.cms">Flipkart group leads e-commerce festive sales, Meesho is second largest contributor in order volume: Redseer</a>

Tata Power mulls 10,000 MW clean energy capacity in next five years in Rajasthan

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Texas power prices soared 20,000% Wednesday evening amid another brutal heat wave.</li><li>Spot electricity prices topped $5,000 per megawatt-hour, up more than 200 times from Wednesday morning.</li></ul>Texas power prices soared 20,000% Wednesday evening amid another brutal heat wave that forced the state's grid operator to issue an emergency alert.By 8:20 pm local time Wednesday, spot electricity prices had topped $5,000 per megawatt-hour, up more than 200 times from that morning, <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2023/09/06/ercot-issues-second-most-severe-energy-emergency-alert-wednesday-evening/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Dallas Morning News</a>.Earlier on Wednesday night, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued an "Energy Emergency Alert 2," but hours later said conditions had returned to normal. Still, it marked the first time since the deep freeze in 2021 that ERCOT issued its second-highest alert.Spot power prices remained high the following day, topping $4,000 per megawatt-hour for more than an hour on Thursday evening. At ERCOT's request, the Biden administration declared a power emergency in Texas on Thursday, waiving some air-pollution rules so generators in the state could produce more electricity.And forecasts for Friday put high temperatures above 100 degrees in major cities like Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.This summer has seen brutal heat waves for Texas and large swaths of the US, as well as Europe and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Last month, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/texas-power-prices-6000-heat-wave-temperature-records-ercot-demand-2023-8">Texas power prices soared 6,000%</a> in one day. And in June, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/texas-power-prices-record-heat-wave-cooling-demand-ercot-grid-2023-6?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets" rel="">power prices doubled</a> in a single day ahead of an earlier heat wave.The Texas power market is deregulated and on its own electricity grid. But while it has experienced massive spikes in demand this summer, supplies have held up.That's due in part to gains in renewable energy. Texas generated about 40% of its power from natural gas last year, with wind accounting for about 25% and solar energy also contributing, according to ERCOT.

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