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To Ease Energy Transmission Gridlock, States Look to Grid-Enhancing Technologies

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Advanced solutions can help meet demand, increase renewable energy use, and save ratepayers money

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The following is provided by Maureen Quinlan, a senior officer, and Yaron Miller, a senior manager with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ energy modernization project.

The aging U.S. electric grid is strained by increasing demand from economic growth and electric vehicles, severe weather disruptions, and more. One result is a congested transmission system that often cannot serve consumers with the lowest-cost electricity—typically generated from renewables such as solar and wind—and must instead tap more expensive sources. This congestion increased consumers’ bills by an estimated $20.8 billion in 2022.

Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) are a promising near-term solution and could ease a backlog of an estimated 2,600 gigawatts of power—95% of which is from solar, wind, or battery projects—that is ready to flow to consumers. So far in 2024, lawmakers in at least 10 states have considered policy options to evaluate and promote GETs. In addition, the White House in May announced a new initiative with 21 states to collaborate on use of these innovative solutions to modernize the grid.

What are GETs?

GETs are technologies that allow transmission lines to carry more power and are typically deployed faster and at a lower cost than new lines and substations. Some common GETs are:

Dynamic line ratings (DLRs): Transmission lines have a “rating” that sets the maximum electricity flows allowed on a line. DLR uses sensors to calculate the rating based on real-time weather conditions. This allows grid operators to safely boost the rating—and line capacity—when conditions allow.Advanced power flow controls (APFCs): APFCs are modular devices that allow grid operators to direct and balance electricity flows to avoid congested areas of the grid.Topology optimization (TO): TO is a software technology that allows grid operators to reroute power flows to avoid congested areas.

One analysis showed that DLRs yield average increases in transmission capacity of more than 33% in summer and 19% in winter. These capacity boosts can make room on the grid for renewable energy projects to come online. One study found that GETs projects across five states could help connect 6.6 gigawatts of new renewable energy to the grid; this could lead to a corresponding drop in fossil fuel emissions of 3.5% in 2027, equivalent to roughly 12 million tons of CO2. DLRs can also have significant safety and reliability benefits because they give utilities accurate readings of real-time conditions of lines and how much electricity they can carry.

GETs save customers money by reducing grid congestion and allowing for uptake of lower-cost energy resources. As a result, these technologies can often pay for themselves within six months of becoming fully operational and could save consumers an estimated $2 billion to $8 billion annually.

State policy approaches

Despite their many benefits, GETs have not yet been broadly adopted by U.S. grid operators, in part because of their relative newness and also because of utility incentive structures that favor large capital projects over improved operations and efficiency. Still, new state activity is encouraging. Examples include:

Study bills

Lawmakers in Connecticut, Maine, and Maryland have considered studying the potential deployment of GETs, resulting in reports that would guide policy decisions. In Maine, a recently passed law (S.P. 257/L.D. 589) allows those findings to inform utility rate-making and grid planning proceedings before the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the state’s regulatory oversight authority.

Utility planning requirements

Most states direct some or all utilities to regularly develop integrated resource plans to outline new investments in energy infrastructure, generation, and transmission. This year, California, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia have either passed or reviewed legislation to require utilities to evaluate GETs within those resource plans or related proceedings.

Minnesota’s recently enacted law requires utilities to identify areas of existing or anticipated congestion, assess GETs to mitigate those trouble spots, and plan to implement them if they are cost-effective.

Incentives

Lawmakers in New York have proposed legislation to require utilities to consider GETs in resource planning and would allow utilities to financially benefit from cost-effectively deploying these technologies.

Although not a replacement for much-needed investment in new transmission lines, GETs and related technologies can play an important role in creating a modern, reliable grid. As more states take action, ratepayers nationwide will benefit.

More information at https://www.pewtrusts.org/energymodernization.

Contact:
Monique O’Grady
mogrady@pewtrusts.org

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SOURCE The Pew Charitable Trusts

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Ravelin Defense Launches Unified Brand Identity, Marking the Completion of ArmorWorks and Fox Valley Metal Tech Integration

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CHANDLER, Ariz., June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ArmorWorks Enterprises and its wholly-owned subsidiary Fox Valley Metal Tech (“FVMT”) announced today the completion of their brand integration under a unified identity: Ravelin Defense. The launch marks the culmination of the strategic integration effort following the 2024 acquisition of Fox Valley Metal Tech and its combination with ArmorWorks Enterprises, bringing together more than six decades of combined defense manufacturing expertise under one name, one brand, and one go-to-market platform. Ravelin Defense is a portfolio company of Littlejohn Capital.

About the Name
The name Ravelin Defense draws from a defense architectural reference. A ravelin is a forward-positioned, triangular fortification — a structure engineered to provide layered protection and absorb a threat before it reaches the core. The name reflects both the nature of what the company builds and how it thinks about its role in the defense industrial base.

A Platform Built on Two Proven Legacies
ArmorWorks Enterprises spent more than 30 years building its reputation as a trusted provider of survivability solutions — delivering armor systems, blast attenuating seating, crew protection, nuclear protection, and mission-critical products to the U.S. military and global defense partners. Fox Valley Metal Tech built a complementary organization as a precision metal fabricator with advanced manufacturing capabilities serving defense and industrial customers with large, complex, tight-tolerance precision enclosures. Acquired by ArmorWorks in 2024 and operating as a wholly owned subsidiary since, FVMT’s integration added manufacturing depth and precision fabrication capacity and a significant maritime customer base that materially broadened what the combined platforms support.

Since the acquisition, the two businesses have operated as one company under a unified leadership team and common strategy. All customer relationships, contracts, certifications, and points of contact remain unchanged.

Strategic Rationale
The Ravelin Defense brand reflects the completion of a deliberate platform-building strategy. The integrated company offers a unified capability spanning survivability structures, armor, precision enclosures, blast attenuating seating, nuclear security systems, signature management, and situational awareness solutions — delivered through two established locations and one cohesive leadership team. That combination positions Ravelin Defense to pursue larger, multi-domain defense programs at a scale the businesses could not have accessed independently.

Kevin Dahlin, Chief Executive Officer of Ravelin Defense says, “ArmorWorks and Fox Valley Metal Tech each built substantial credibility over the past three decades — proven capability, hard-won customer trust, and a standard of quality that defines who we are. We have been one company since 2024, and Ravelin Defense is the name that reflects that reality in the market. Operating under a unified identity gives our customers a clearer picture of the full scope of what we can deliver across Land, Sea, and Air — and opens doors to program opportunities that match the scale of what we have built.

The name has changed, but the mission remains constant: to protect and enable warfighters and global partners by delivering mission-critical and survivability solutions through innovative products and advanced manufacturing.”

About Ravelin Defense
Ravelin Defense is an integrated survivability and precision manufacturing platform serving the U.S. defense market and global partners across Land, Sea, Air, and Infrastructure domains. The company delivers mission-critical and survivability solutions — including armor systems, blast attenuating seating, precision enclosures, nuclear security, signature management, survivability structures, and situational awareness capabilities — through innovative products and advanced manufacturing.

Ravelin Defense is headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, with manufacturing operations in Green Bay, WI.

ArmorWorks Enterprises and Fox Valley Metal Tech are operating units of Ravelin Defense. All existing contracts, certifications, registrations, and customer and supplier relationships remain in full effect under the new brand.

For more information, visit www.ravelindefense.com.

About Littlejohn Capital, LLC
Littlejohn Capital is the family office of Angus C. Littlejohn Jr., founder of Littlejohn & Co., where he currently serves as Chairman Emeritus. Founded in 2013, Littlejohn Capital seeks to make control investments in small to mid-sized private companies that are undergoing strategic, operational or generational transition. For more information, visit www.littlejohncapital.com

Media Contact
Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations, LLC
914-834-4334
chris@tofallipr.com

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SOURCE Ravelin Defense

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F-Secure and IdentifAI Take Aim at AI-Generated Scams with Deepfake Protection Launch

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Real-time deepfake detection capabilities added to F-Secure’s Scam Protection Suite, helping service providers combat increasingly convincing AI-driven scams

HELSINKI and MILAN, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Global consumer cyber security leader F-Secure and deepfake-detection experts IdentifAI have joined forces to help digital service providers combat the rapidly rising threat of AI-generated scams. Available now through the F-Secure Embedded portfolio, Deepfake Protection adds real-time detection of AI-generated images, video, and voice to F-Secure’s Scam Protection Suite, helping consumers determine what’s real and what’s not, while closing one of the fastest-growing gaps in global scam protection. 

AI-generated scams have quickly reached crisis levels: The FBI reports that Americans lost nearly $900 million to AI-generated scams in 2025. And according to F-Secure’s latest research, more than 56% of all consumers are targeted by scammers every month, with financial scam losses doubling in the last year alone.

Generative AI is pouring fuel on the fire: cloned voices, synthetic video, and hyper-realistic fake images are turning yesterday’s clumsy phishing attempts into convincing, personalized deception. The red flags aren’t obvious anymore, and consumers are increasingly left guessing whether what they’re seeing or hearing is real. This makes deepfake detection a critical new capability for service providers looking to help customers identify manipulated content before it can be used to scam them.

“A video, a voice message, a photo — things people once trusted instinctively can now be fabricated in minutes,” said Dimi Vellikok, SVP of Product Engagement at F-Secure. “The reality is that scam protection can’t stop at suspicious links and messages anymore. Consumers are increasingly being targeted with manipulated content, and service providers need tools that address those threats too. That’s exactly why we’ve partnered with IdentifAI: to give our partners real-time deepfake detection for the consumers they serve, as part of the protection they already trust.”

Protection built for the AI era

Deepfake Protection draws on IdentifAI’s multi-modal detection technology, which analyzes images, video, and voice in real time to flag AI-generated and manipulated content. IdentifAI takes a deliberately independent approach to the problem: the company exclusively detects AI-generated content and does not build generative models itself, avoiding the conflict of interest that affects vendors who do both. That focus lets its detection keep pace as new generative models reach the market.

“Our mission is to safeguard the fundamental human right to distinguish between the artificial and the human, ensuring we all engage with the world authentically,” said Marco Ramilli, IdentifAI Founder and CEO. “In partnering with F-Secure, we have turned this vision into reality—co-creating powerful, proven solutions to counter the threat of deepfakes.”

The partnership brings together F-Secure’s network of more than 200 service-provider partners and IdentifAI’s specialist deepfake detection technology. Together, the companies aim to make trustworthy, real-time content verification a standard part of everyday consumer protection, rather than a specialist tool solely reserved for enterprises. 

The future of scam protection, available now

Deepfake Protection is available to digital service providers as part of the F-Secure Embedded portfolio, the suite of consumer-security capabilities F-Secure delivers to its service-provider partners. Through the Embedded portfolio, providers can integrate deepfake detection into the security experiences they already offer without having to build new infrastructure of their own.

About F-Secure

F-Secure is a human-first, AI-powered consumer cyber security experience company with 38 years of expertise in tackling digital threats. We help digital service providers turn trust into a high-value growth engine — protecting their customers while enabling them to live their best digital lives in a world of relentless, AI-driven scams. With billions of digital interactions secured each year, tens of millions of consumers protected globally, and over $10bn in partner value created, we deliver proven impact at scale.

About IdentifAI

IdentifAI is an Italian startup that has developed an innovative AI platform capable of detecting whether images or videos were created by humans or generative AI. Its proactive solutions promote digital integrity, protect against misinformation, and empower users to distinguish between human and AI-generated content. In July 2025, identifAI raised €5 million in a funding round led by United Ventures, reflecting a continued commitment to developing anti-deepfake technologies and promoting a secure information ecosystem. For more information: www.identifai.net | sales@identifai.net

PRESS CONTACTS:
Meghan Sawyer
Senior Public Relations Manager, US
Meghan.Sawyer@f-secure.com

Joel Latto
Public Relations Manager, EMEA
Joel.Latto@f-secure.com

IdentifAI
pr.it@identifai.net | pr.uk@identifai.net

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com.

https://news.cision.com/f-secure/r/f-secure-and-identifai-take-aim-at-ai-generated-scams-with-deepfake-protection-launch,c4364126

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/f-secure-and-identifai-take-aim-at-ai-generated-scams-with-deepfake-protection-launch-302801586.html

SOURCE F-Secure

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Aviso Advances Technology Modernization with Broadridge’s Wealth Platform

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TORONTO, June 16, 2026 /CNW/ — Leading Canadian wealth services provider Aviso is collaborating with global Fintech leader Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR) to support the next phase of technology modernization for its Aviso Correspondent Partners business by deploying Broadridge’s Wealth Platform.

As part of its long-term strategic vision, and expanded multi-year relationship with Broadridge, Aviso is evolving the systems that support partners to enable modern, flexible technology that drives innovation, advisor productivity, and long-term growth while enhancing the overall client experience. This includes deepening its collaboration with Broadridge as part of a broader partner ecosystem.

Aviso will leverage Broadridge’s Wealth Platform, which provides a next-generation open API architecture and innovative Advisor Workstation components. The solution combines Broadridge’s technology and books and records engine with Aviso’s own capabilities and select third-party partner applications to offer a seamless, scalable experience for partners, advisors and clients.

“Our strategy is focused on delivering smarter, more agile digital experiences for our clients and advisors, while creating a strong foundation for future innovation,” said Bill Packham, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aviso. “Broadridge’s platform approach complements our vision by enabling us to integrate the best available capabilities across our own technology, Broadridge’s solutions, and other valued partners. This collaboration builds on our long-lasting relationship with Broadridge and positions us to deliver a future-ready platform that enhances advisor productivity and client experiences.”

“This expanded engagement with Aviso reflects our shared commitment to transforming and modernizing the wealth management ecosystem for advisors and their clients,” said Karin Kirkwood, President, Broadridge Canada. “We’re proud to deepen our collaboration with Aviso and play a key role in enabling their transformation. As a trusted provider of industry expertise and transformative technology, Broadridge supports large-scale modernization efforts across the financial services sector, helping forward-looking firms like Aviso lead with agility, confidence, and impact.”

The enhanced Advisor Workstation will increase advisor productivity, enable accelerated onboarding of new tools, reduce internal integration work and costs, and provide real-time access to data and insights while digitizing operations. Aviso will be better positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities while more easily responding to industry evolution and regulatory developments.

With an agile and scalable platform, Broadridge empowers wealth management firms to streamline operations, accelerate digital transformation, and unlock growth. As the Canadian wealth industry prioritizes modernization of their front- and middle-office operations, Broadridge’s integrated, future-ready platform serves as a strategic differentiator, enabling leading firms to shape the future of wealth management in Canada.  

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) is a global technology leader with trusted expertise and transformative technology, helping clients and the financial services industry operate, innovate, and grow. We power investing, governance, and communications for our clients – driving operational resiliency, elevating business performance, and transforming investor experiences.

Our technology and operations platforms process and generate over 7 billion communications annually and underpin the daily average trading of over $15 trillion in tokenized and traditional securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is part of the S&P 500® Index, employing over 15,000 associates in 21 countries.

For more information, visit www.broadridge.com.

About Aviso

Aviso is a leading wealth and investment services provider for the Canadian financial industry, with more than $220 billion in assets under administration and management as of May 31, 2026. Guided by our values — we care, we dare, we share, we deliver — we’re building a technology-enabled, client-centric wealth management ecosystem for partners, advisors and investors. Aviso supports over 4,600 advisors and nearly 900,000 investors.

Aviso works with over 450 partner organizations, including nearly all credit unions across Canada, as well as portfolio managers, investment dealers, insurance and trust companies, and introducing brokers. Our services include an investment and mutual fund dealer, insurance and estate planning, managed assets, online brokerage and automated investing, asset management, and custodial and carrying broker solutions. For more information, visit aviso.ca.

Media Contact:

Olivia Whalen
pro-BRWAM@prosek.com

 

SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

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