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What once might have seemed laughable weeks ago — that the Red Sox would soon be breathing down the Yankees’ neck — is no longer a laughing matter.

Fans will likely have to wait just a little longer to see Patrick Mahomes back in action.

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Texas Energy Giant Oncor Supports Governor's Data Center Freeze

By Emma Penrod of UtilityDive.com

About 44 GW of large load projects slated for Oncor’s service territory qualified for ERCOT’s new “Batch Zero” interconnection process for large loads, company executives told analysts during a Thursday earnings call. But the timeline for that process is uncertain following an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that paused new data center interconnection approvals pending a state-wide audit.

ERCOT’s criteria for Batch Zero, which include new financial and technical requirements for loads with a peak demand of 75 MW or greater, narrowed immediate load growth projects for Oncor, a subsidiary of Sempra.

The batch approach, Sempra Chairman and CEO Jeff Martin said, was intended to align the interconnection of large loads with the construction of new generation. The criteria for acceptance into the first Batch Zero was finalized in June.

Jeff Martin, chairman and CEO of Sempra, in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 2026. Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

“Think about a situation where you’ve got close to 500 GW of generation on the sideline waiting to come on the system and, similarly, over 400 GW of large load customers,” Martin said. “That batch process is intended to sequence generation with large loads. Over time, it will be a sequencing effect that’s intended to balance what we think is going to be remarkable load growth.”

The utility had submitted a qualifying load forecast of about 127 GW to ERCOT earlier this year, before the Batch Zero eligibility criteria were released.

On Thursday, executives expressed confidence in the durability of the pipeline, despite uncertainty. Oncor CEO Allen Nye said service requests at that company had increased from 289 GW at the end of the first quarter, to 298 GW this past quarter.

“We continue to have really strong growth, really strong interest. And yes, there is more out there,” Nye told analysts on Thursday.

By the numbers: Sempra Q2’26

• 44 GW: Oncor Batch Zero interconnection requests under ERCOT review prior to the state moratorium.
• $65B: Capital plan through 2030, including $47.5B at Oncor.
• $560M: Additional base rate revenue approved at Oncor by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

It is not yet clear how the governor’s order, issued on Monday, will affect the new ERCOT review process. ERCOT spokespeople told local media on Monday that they had put the Batch Zero review on hold pending clarification from the governor.

Oncor’s current $47.5 billion capital plan does not include any spending tied to the Batch Zero load, Martin said. The utility plans to update its capital plan in the fourth quarter of this year, he said, but any capital needs associated with the batch study will not make their way into the company’s capital plan until at least 2027.

But the current plan does include about $5 billion tied to high-voltage transmission projects Oncor has underway in Texas’ Permian Basin, which Nye noted were the subject of a 15-hour public hearing in July. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and several state senators called on the Public Utility Commission of Texas to deny the transmission lines’ applications following the hearing, in which speakers decried the projects’ potential impacts on private landowners.

Martin and Nye said they understood the Texas lawmakers’ position and expressed support for their efforts, despite the potential for delays at Oncor.

“Like all across this country, there’s a variety of elections taking place in November,” Martin said. “There’s a big focus on affordability. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or an independent, we’re looking for ways to release pressure on American families, and I think Texas is not immune to that.

“There’s a process going forward where we’re doing things at a scale...that have never been done before,” Martin continued. “What we want to do is make sure that we’re supportive of the process. We’re there to make sure that we can address some of the needs of stakeholders. If the outcome is it takes a little bit longer to make the process better for everybody, and we end up with a durable framework, I think it’s great for the state of Texas.”

Leaders at Sempra also expressed support for legislative processes in California, where lawmakers are still mulling wildfire liability reforms. SoCalGas, a Sempra-owned utility, was named in January in a lawsuit filed by Edison International alleging actions by the gas utility worsened the 2025 Eaton Fire, for which Edison International has been sued. SoCalGas filed a cross-complaint against Edison seeking compensation for damages to SoCalGas’ infrastructure in April. A trial has been scheduled for January 2027. SoCalGas has also been named in suits related to the 2025 Palisades Fire. Sempra-owned San Diego Gas & Electric is not currently the subject of any wildfire-related litigation.

Sempra continues to pursue the sale of its interests in SI Partners, which owns LNG and natural gas infrastructure in the U.S. and Mexico, to KKR Partners for $10 billion, and of Mexican natural gas utility Ecogas. Mexican regulators recently approved the Ecogas sale, which Martin said puts the transaction on track to close later this month.

The sales will allow Sempra to remove more than $9 billion in debt from its balance sheet and should improve the company’s prospects with ratings agencies, according to Karen Sedgwick, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Sempra. Moody’s issued a negative outlook for the parent company in January on account of its debts and funding capacity, Sedgwick said.

Texas regulators in April approved a $560 million base rate increase at Oncor that took effect on June 1, and SDG&E filed an initial 2028 GRC application with the California PUC in June.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/07/2026 - 20:05

Carlos Rodón will begin what is expected to be a brief rehab assignment Saturday. 

Finding waste, fraud and corruption in Medicaid is a lot like diagnosing illness in a human body. You do an initial check-up and if something seems off, you order more tests.   That’s exactly what the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) did with California’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal. During a review...

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Both Iranian & Israeli Officials Call Out 'Paper Tiger' Saudi Arabia

Regional rivals and enemies are calling out Saudi Arabia as a "paper tiger" which must rely on others for protection and defense needs.

Criticisms of Riyadh are being issued on the same day the kingdom signed a major security pact with the other major Muslim-dominant nations of Pakistan and Turkey. Formally called the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, it is essentially a NATO-style agreement for the 'Muslim world' - given that it stipulates and formalizes that an armed attack on any of the countries will be treated as an attack against all of them.

Saudi national media

The pact extends across populations with a combined total of some 380 million people. Both Iranian and Israeli officials have taken to mocking the historic agreement.

For example, on Friday within hours of the deal's signing, prominent Iranian MP Ebrahim Rezaei called on Riyadh to change course in terms of its pro-American policies, which has included allowing US troops to be stationed on Saudi soil. He said the new pact won't bring Riyadh protection or peace.

He stated on X: "Saudis must know that a paper agreement with Turkiye and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as years of one-sided nursing to the Americans did not bring them security."

"Reform your policies so that you do not need to beg for security from others," continued Rezaei, who is also a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.

Somewhat ironically, voices out of Israel echoed similar criticisms, blasting the wealthy kingdom as seeking to appear strong but in truth being weak with not much of a military to speak of:

Saudi Arabia is less powerful than it may seem at first glance, former head of the National Security Council Prof. Jacob Nagel told 103FM in a Friday morning interview addressing the defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan.

"You have to understand that Saudi Arabia, despite all its wealth and weapons, is to a large extent a paper tiger. It has a great deal of weaponry and a great deal of money, but militarily, it cannot manage to 'get through the day,'" Nagel said.

He added, "If we examine the war in which the Saudis tried to fight the Houthis, we see that they failed despite all the advanced capabilities at their disposal. They have a great many assets, but nothing is really liquid, and they have reached a situation in which, economically, they need help."

Geopolitical messages that MBS is sending

- Instead of Abraham accords, it is Mecca accords

- Instead of a GCC defense pact, Saudi Arabia is looking to Turkey, Pakistan

Turns page on alliance w UAE + anti-Islamist approach. Still doesn’t mean Turkey alliance; Egypt stayed out

— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) August 7, 2026

Saudi has in prior months been subject of sporadic 'retaliatory' attacks from Iran in the context of the war, and has earlier even responded by launching numerous unpublicized strikes on Iran. Yemeni Houthis have lately also fired projectiles onto Saudi Aramco sites.

So it did seek to flex - apparently - but still must be largely reliant on US weaponry and especially on American Patriot batteries, which form the backbone of the kingdom's defense system.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/07/2026 - 19:40

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