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Texas to Audit Data Center Projects

Article 0 Comments The audit and verification of data centers ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott will involve about 250 to 300 projects, most of which are data centers, state grid operator officials told the Public Utility Commission on Friday. The officials’ testimony also highlighted just how data significant the buildout is: The 200 gigawatt of future demand accounted for by the projects that will be audited is more than twice the ERCOT grid’s peak demand record set last month. It will take the Electric Reliability Council of Texas “several months” to audit the projects, which must be completed before any data center can be approved for connection to the state grid, according to Abbott’s Aug. 3 directive to ERCOT and the PUCT. ERCOT had already planned on assessing large load projects seeking to connect to the grid as a part of a process already underway, but Abbott’s audit order moves up the checks to first priority and adds some more requirements, officials said. “With the governor’s letter, what we’re really doing is moving that verification process now to the front of the line before we begin the interconnection study process,” said Chad Seely, general counsel and senior vice president of...

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People Moves: Aon CFO Reese Steps Down After 2 Years, Succeeded by Virana in Interim Role; Miller Bermuda Taps Gallagher’s Vickers as Senior Director, Property

Article 0 Comments This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the brokers Aon and Miller Bermuda. A summary of these new hires follows here. Aon CFO Reese Steps Down After 2 Years, Succeeded by Virana in Interim Role Insurance broker Aon plc announced that Edmund Reese is stepping down from his role as executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately, to pursue opportunities outside the firm. He first joined Aon in Edmund Reese Aon appointed Nadin Virani as interim CFO, effective immediately, and Reese will serve as senior adviser to Aon President and CEO Greg Case, through August 16, 2027, to support the transition. Reese joined Aon in June 2024, while Virani joined the company in January 2025. Aon said Virani brings deep financial leadership expertise and a wealth of experience in the financial services industry to his new role, having previously served as the firm’s global head of Corporate Planning and Analytics with oversight of financial planning and analysis, forecasting processes, cash management and budgeting. Nadin Virani Virani will report to CEO Case and lead Aon’s Finance organization, while working closely with the Aon Executive Committee to ensure continuity and oversight of the firm’s financial...

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Lawsuit Alleges TWIA Fraudulently Reduced Claim Estimates From Hurricane Beryl

Article 0 Comments Three Texas homeowners filed a federal racketeering lawsuit last week alleging that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association fraudulently reduced claim estimates for properties damaged by Hurricane Beryl. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, alleges TWIA partnered with a vendor who made significant alterations to the original claims estimate made by a field adjuster. TWIA then sent the estimate to the policyholder under the premise that the estimate was the original, the lawsuit says. Plaintiffs allege that they lost tens of thousands of dollars due to the scheme. For one policyholder, the original field adjuster estimate was $91,000, but the altered estimate came out to $31,000, a reduction of 66%. The plaintiffs are seeking a class action under the federal RICO Act. The lawsuit does not rely on violations of Texas insurance law as the predicate acts for the RICO claim. Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast on July 8, 2024, as a Category 1 hurricane. TWIA, the state-created insurer of last resort for wind and hail, has reported $336 million in Hurricane Beryl claim payments to approximately 34,000 policyholders. Aaron Taylor, a TWIA spokesman, said the organization’s practice...

Lockton Introduces Lockton SAGE: The Industry’s First Unified Enterprise Intelligence Platform 0

Lockton Introduces Lockton SAGE: The Industry’s First Unified Enterprise Intelligence Platform

Purpose-built to bring the full power of Lockton’s proprietary data, advanced analytics, AI-enabled capabilities, and specialized expertise to client decisions, at scale Kansas City, MO (Aug. 4, 2026) – Lockton, the world’s largest privately held insurance brokerage and risk management firm, is pleased to announce the expanded availability of Lockton SAGE, its enterprise intelligence platform purpose-built to bring the full power of Lockton’s proprietary data, advanced analytics, AI-enabled capabilities, and specialized expertise to client decisions. First introduced within Lockton Re, Lockton SAGE is now being extended across the firm’s US broader business with capabilities spanning Risk Solutions, People Solutions, and Reinsurance. As organizations navigate increasingly complex workforce, financial, and risk decisions, many are challenged by disconnected data, siloed insights, and a growing wave of standalone AI tools that fail to deliver the full picture. “No firm is better positioned to lead clients into the age of AI than Lockton, but technology alone is never the advantage; real impact comes from combining powerful intelligence with exceptional people,” said Ron Lockton, Chairman and CEO of Lockton. “Our data, technology, and expertise were built together over time, not bolted on through acquisition, so they work as one, and we built Lockton SAGE to make our advisors better; giving them the insight...

INTX Introduces Tenet, the Industry’s First Native Intelligence Layer for the (Re)Insurance Operating System 0

INTX Introduces Tenet, the Industry’s First Native Intelligence Layer for the (Re)Insurance Operating System

Built into the unified INTX platform from the ground up, Tenet delivers contextual intelligence across underwriting, reinsurance, policy administration, claims, accounting and financial operations Austin, TX (Aug. 4, 2026) – INTX Insurance Software is pleased to introduce Tenet, the industry’s first native Intelligence Layer for the (Re)Insurance Operating System. Embedded directly within the unified INTX platform, Tenet brings contextual intelligence to every stage of the (re)insurance lifecycle—helping (re)insurers move beyond task automation to intelligent decision-making. Embedded across the INTX platform, Tenet delivers four core intelligence capabilities: Treaty Intelligence automatically transforms reinsurance treaties into structured operational intelligence, accelerating treaty onboarding and improving governance across ceded and assumed reinsurance. Policy Intelligence interprets complex policy documentation to identify coverages, endorsements, exclusions, limits, deductibles and policy changes, reducing manual review and accelerating underwriting and claims workflows. Underwriting Intelligence evaluates submissions against underwriting guidelines, authority levels and carrier appetite, identifying exceptions and compliance issues before decisions are made and dramatically reducing submission-to-quote time. Knowledge Intelligence connects information across policies, treaties, claims, accounting, and underwriting, transforming institutional knowledge into operational intelligence available within every workflow. Built on a single operational and financial data foundation, Tenet understands the relationships between policies, treaties, underwriting guidelines, claims, accounting and...

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Tyson to Close More Beef Plants as Cattle Shortage Drags On

Article 0 Comments Tyson Foods Inc. is closing more beef plants as a prolonged cattle shortage continues to force the US beefpacking industry’s restructuring. The country’s largest meatpacker said it would cease operations at an Illinois beef plant and a Utah case-ready facility, while also pursuing the sale of another beef plant in Washington. The moves are the latest in a wave of closures, as beef processors try to trim capacity in line with the size of the smaller US cattle herd. Production at the affected facilities will be absorbed by other plants, and Tyson now plans to anchor its beef operation around just three plants: in Nebraska, Kansas and Texas. The plant in Amarillo, Texas, that had previously been cut to a single shift, will return to two shifts “as cattle become available,” the company said. The changes aim “to create a more competitive footprint amidst one of the most historic cattle shortages the country has ever experienced,” the company said in a statement Thursday. The Illinois and Washington beef plants process about 5,000 heads of cattle per day, according to a note from Barclays analysts led by Benjamin Theurer. Tyson’s daily slaughter capacity is estimated to have dropped...

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Kansas Town Settles Lawsuit with Former Reporter Over Controversial Police Raid

Article 0 Comments A small Kansas town has agreed to pay $850,000 to a former reporter at its weekly newspaper to end her federal lawsuit over a police raid of the paper’s offices in 2023 that ignited a national furor over press freedom. Now-retired Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn said in her lawsuit that the raid violated press freedoms and protections from unreasonable law enforcement searches guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. She also said it almost immediately led to health problems, causing the return of potentially life-threatening seizures that had been controlled for years with medication. Zorn’s attorney, Randy Rathbun, and an attorney for the city Marion, Jennifer Hill, filed a joint statement Tuesday — the third anniversary of the raid on the newspaper’s offices — that Zorn’s lawsuit was being dismissed. It was among the lawsuits filed in federal court against local officials over the raids of the newspaper’s offices, the home of Publisher Eric Meyer and the home of a former City Council member. Rathbun did not immediately return a phone message Wednesday seeking comment. Another attorney for the city, Scott Ufford, declined to comment about the settlement but confirmed the amount. Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody...

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Trump ‘Energy Emergency’ Could Fast-Track Expansion of Louisiana LNG Export Terminal

Article 0 Comments Less than two years after opening, a liquefied natural gas terminal near New Orleans is seeking a multi-billion-dollar expansion under a new Trump administration “emergency” permitting process that shortens environmental review and may weaken protections for surrounding wetlands and waterways. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted Plaquemines LNG, on the Mississippi River between Myrtle Grove and Port Sulphur, fast-tracked permitting under a ” national energy emergency ” President Donald Trump declared last year. The agency cut the public comment period from the typical 30 days to just 10, ending July 2, and is expected to move quickly to approve the expansion, which would allow the terminal to more than double in size, growing from nearly 590 acres to about 1,220. That would make the facility the largest LNG export terminal in North America, according to its owner, Virginia-based Venture Global. Environmentalists warn that the terminal’s expedited review could reduce scrutiny of dredging, in-water construction, and the filling of marshlands in a region suffering from rapid land loss. By the Army Corps’ estimates, the $18 billion expansion could damage up to 470 acres of wetlands and water bottoms in central Plaquemines Parish, about 25 miles south of...

World Nomads Announces Expanded Travel Insurance Plans and Upgraded Benefits For Canadian Travellers 0

World Nomads Announces Expanded Travel Insurance Plans and Upgraded Benefits For Canadian Travellers

Enhanced coverage, greater flexibility, and a new underwriting partnership with Zurich reflect evolving traveller needs New ways to travel, covered: New Epic and Annual Multi-Trip plans expand options for both big trips and frequent flyers. More control when plans change: More flexibility for today’s unpredictable travel, with optional Cancel For Any Reason coverage. Shaped by customer feedback: Stronger protection with added benefits like rental car coverage, pet emergency care, and trip exchanges in select plans. Confidence behind every trip: Now underwritten by Zurich, a long-standing global insurer known for strength, stability, and innovation. Vancouver, BC (July 1, 2026) – With flight disruptions, rising travel costs and global uncertainty reshaping how Canadians plan their trips, travellers are increasingly looking for more flexibility and deeper travel protections. Record travel volumes – nearly 100 million trips in just one quarter – are also increasing travellers’ exposure to those unexpected disruptions. In response, World Nomads Canada has introduced expanded travel insurance products, with upgraded benefits, new plan options, and greater flexibility for today’s increasingly complex travel landscape. “Travel today looks very different than it did even a few years ago,” said Christina Tunnah, Head of the Americas at World Nomads. “Canadian travellers are navigating more...

Canadians navigating more complex, high-pressure driving conditions than ever: Desjardins Insurance survey 0

Canadians navigating more complex, high-pressure driving conditions than ever: Desjardins Insurance survey

Lévis, QC (July 29, 2026) – A new national survey from Desjardins Insurance, conducted among nearly 4,000 Canadians in 2026, reveals that road safety in Canada is being reshaped by a convergence of risks, as drivers navigate increasingly demanding conditions while under pressure. These insights point to opportunities to better understand risks and encourage safer driving behaviours. A more complex driving environment While distracted driving remains the most widely recognized issue, the findings show that the story is broader. Today’s road conditions are defined by a combination of external distractions, high stress levels and frequent exposure to risky behaviour, all of which are influencing how Canadians experience the road. Six in ten Canadians (60%) rank distracted driving among the top risks, a position it continues to hold nationally. However, distraction itself has evolved. External factors, such as traffic, pedestrians and activity outside the vehicle, are now the leading source (35%), followed by cell-phone related distractions (32%), in-vehicle technology (26%) and everyday habits like eating or drinking (22%). This highlights the importance of maintaining focus and being mindful of both in-vehicle and external distractions. Drivers under pressure At the same time, Canadians are getting behind the wheel under strain. Nearly half (49%) say they frequently feel stressed or tired, pointing to the growing role that mental load...