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In Memory of Rajat Deb: Inspiring Man of Ideas and Remarkable Silicon Valley Archetype

By Anjuli Deb -- With deep sadness and profound appreciation, we share the passing of LCG's founder, Dr. Rajat K. Deb. He was our president and one of the first entrepreneurs in the computer revolution. He was also our friend, our teacher and mentor, and for a few of us, our father and grandfather.

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DOE Announces New "American Nuclear Supply Chain Loans" to Accelerate Deployment of Large-scale Reactors

LCG, June 23, 2026--The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) announced today that it issued a conditional loan commitment to finance the purchase of long-lead time items needed to rebuild America’s commercial nuclear supply chain. In addition, Westinghouse Electric Company announced today its intention to partner with the EDF on the new loans.

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Industry News

Surviving and ThrivingIn the RTO/ISO Environment

Dr. Rajat K. Deb, head of LCG Consulting and publisher of EnergyOnline Daily News, is author with some of his staff of an article, Surviving and Thriving in the RTO Revolution, appearing in the February 1 issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly. He was asked to share some of his thoughts with our readers.

By Rajat K. Deb

LCG, Feb. 9, 2001-In Order 2000, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requires Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), including for-profit Transcos and non-profit Independent System Operators, to meet a number of criteria in their design, implementation, and management of the transmission grid. But to survive and thrive, RTO must learn to do much more and with better tools attuned to the task.

On the surface, RTOs perform a concise list of transmission-related functions, assigned to them by the FERC. First, RTOs must to design and collect transmission tariffs. Second, RTOs must manage various functions of grid operations in the short term, such as congestion, ancillary services, loop flows, and OASIS the interface with the grid customer. At the same time, RTOs will take the lead in long-term planning for future grid design and construction. And finally, the RTO acts as the official regional transmission "czar," coordinating grid operations with other regions and overseeing the efficiency and fairness of regional markets.

Yet the real job of running an RTO may prove more complex. Consider the events of last year in California and the West, and the difficulties experienced by the California Independent System Operator. This experience suggests that the job of the RTO goes far beyond the managing the nominal transmission sector.

Like it or not, RTOs inevitably must engage in integrated resource planning. Of course, it is true that under a market-driven restructuring, the choice and manner of deployment of generation and transmission capacity represent separate business decisions. Yet, these two segments remain interdependent.

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