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PG&E 2024 Innovation Summit to Showcase Novel Climate-Tech Solutions, Additional Speakers Confirmed

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Leaders from Eaton, GE Vernova, NVIDIA Added to High-Powered Speaker Lineup

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Artificial intelligence for nuclear power generation, carbon-sequestering biochar, long-duration energy storage, submetering and managed charging for electric vehicles, real-time fault detection sensors, a prescribed-burn machine, advanced drones for system inspections, and new undergrounding systems are among the novel solutions and technologies that will be on display November 13 during Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) 2024 Innovation Summit presented in collaboration with DISTRIBUTECH® in San Jose.

“We are proud to work with leading companies advancing energy-focused AI applications, and fire-tech and climate-tech solutions to drive impact across our system with minimal impact to customer bills,” said Quinn Nakayama, Senior Director, Grid Research Innovation and Development, PG&E. “We see the potential for innovation to address emerging challenges across our operations, and we recognize the tremendous opportunity that innovation offers to transform our energy system to deliver for our people, the planet and the prosperity of California for generations to come. Other utilities’ challenges of tomorrow are PG&E’s realities of today, so I look forward to engaging at the summit to share ideas, and–in the spirit of mutual aid and support–I strongly encourage my utility peers across the country to join us in-person on November 13 in San Jose.”

Several industry leaders were recently added to the 2024 Innovation Summit’s high-powered speaker lineup including:

Sean Moser, Senior Vice President & Chief Product Officer of GE Vernova’s Grid Softwaret team and Igor Stamenkovic, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Electrical Services and Systems Division, Eaton will join Joe Bentley, Senior Vice President, Electric Engineering, PG&E for a discussion on the future of electric planning.

Marc Spieler, Senior Managing Director, Global Energy Industry, NVIDIA and Trey Lauderdale, Founder and CEO, Atomic Canyon will join Maureen Zawalick, Vice President, Business and Technical Services, PG&E for a conversation on the role of AI in the nuclear industry.

For the full agenda and speaker lineup, and to register for in-person or virtual attendance visit: Summary – 2024 PG&E Innovation Summit presented by DISTRIBUTECH (cvent.com)

The immersive technology showcase for in-person summit attendees will feature demonstrations by PG&E and peer utilities Avangrid, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison. The showcase will include the following organizations and technologies that PG&E and peer utilities are exploring and deploying to enhance operations, improve customer service, and address changing environmental conditions:

Blue Grit Robotics is pioneering a first-of-its-kind utility undergrounding system that dramatically reduces the cost, complexity, and invasiveness of traditional methods. By harnessing advanced robotics and AI, Blue Grit Robotics is transforming the way utilities are installed underground, making the process safer, more efficient, and minimally disruptive. PG&E identified Blue Grit Robotics through its 2023 R&D Pitch Fest following the inaugural Innovation Summit.

BurnBot builds and operates systems that scale fuel treatment to prevent destructive wildfires. Composed of a team of firefighters, scientists, engineers, prescribed fire practitioners, and forestry professionals, BurnBot is addressing wildfire challenges and risks with its system of technologies that amplify workforce capacity to conduct safe, efficient, and ecological fuels treatment from mastication to prescribed fire. BurnBot recently launched its next-generation controlled burn machine (RX2) that delivers prescribed fire in a way that’s clean and creates very minimal smoke and is 10X faster than what can currently be done by arming boots on the ground and amplifying them with tools and technology, while reducing the risk of escape fire with a minimal impact on the environment. PG&E hosted the first public test of the RX2 in September 2024.

Earth Foundries is a California based, certified woman-owned and certified benefit corporation tackling California’s catastrophic wildfire threat by lowering the cost and carbon footprint of forest remediation. Earth Foundries’ innovative and sustainable Slash Attack™ mobile pyrolysis service converts unmerchantable forest material from forest health and hazardous fuels reduction projects into carbon-sequestering biochar on-site and at-scale. PG&E first tested a pyrolysis machine—also known as a “Carbonizer”–in late 2022 and is working with Earth Foundries to deploy one in Lake County through the Hometown Wildfire Safety Collaborative, a partnership with fire protection associations, safety organizations and environmental sustainability groups to advance wildfire resilience in Lake County.

Form Energy is an American technology company developing a breakthrough, multi-day energy storage system to enable the electric grid to run on clean, reliable, and affordable energy, every day of the year. Form Energy‘s first commercial product is an iron-air battery capable of storing and dispatching energy for 100 hours at system costs competitive with traditional power plants. Form was founded in 2017 with a unified mission: to reshape the global electric system by creating a new class of low-cost, multi-day energy storage systems. The company has already begun trial production of its iron-air batteries from its factory in West Virginia and is preparing to deploy its first commercial projects throughout the U.S. in 2025 and beyond, including a system adjacent to a PG&E electric substation in Northern California.

Gridware is transforming electrical grid management with its advanced sensor technology and innovative smart-pole platform. Focused on enhancing safety, resilience, and reliability, Gridware’s pole-mounted sensors (Gridscopes) monitor power lines in real-time, detecting potential hazards like equipment malfunctions and vegetation encroachment—even during outages. Operators now have access to critical information on when, where, and what faults occur in real time when they need it most. PG&E has deployed 10,000 Gridscopes on 1,000 miles of circuits enabled with Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings. To date, the Gridscopes have prevented five ignitions and provided operationally useful information during 167 events by identifying outage causes and hazards in real-time to dispatch operators. 

IND Technology (IND.T) is an Australian and New York-based company specializing in AI-driven predictive analytics to optimize the performance of industrial and energy assets. Their Early Fault Detection (EFD) system represents a major leap forward in this field, monitoring radio-frequency signals on powerlines 24/7 to detect and locate a wide range of incipient faults before they escalate into power outages or wildfires. Working with PG&E, IND.T has successfully demonstrated how this predictive maintenance technology can remotely identify and diagnose electrical asset failures. The EFD system is particularly noteworthy for its precision—it can pinpoint issues within 30 feet, leveraging the combination of smart sensors, radio-frequency signals, and advanced data analytics. This proactive approach not only boosts the reliability of energy infrastructure but also helps utilities optimize maintenance costs by preventing failures and reducing downtime. EFD technology is now widely deployed across North America, serving as a critical tool for utilities to enhance climate resilience and improve operational efficiency.

Itron, a global grid edge intelligence leader, is innovating news ways for utilities and cities to manage energy and water. The company will demonstrate one of its distributed intelligence applications, running on Itron’s Riva electric endpoint, that manages electric vehicle (EV) charging loads in real-time to allow consumers to safely operate Level 2 EV chargers without needing to upgrade their electrical service or compromise reliability within the local grid.

RainIons has developed a game changing, low-cost patented catalytic technology to remove CO2, NOX and other pollutants at the source of hydrocarbon exhaust. RainIons’ coating technology can be applied and scaled from small engines to large utilities, power generation, industrial applications, low/no-energy Direct Air Capture technology and further. 

Schneider Electric is a global leader in energy management and automation, committed to providing innovative solutions for a sustainable and efficient energy future. Its advanced technologies empower utilities to optimize grid operations, integrate renewable energy sources, and enhance grid resilience. Through its Digital Grid solutions, Schneider Electric aims to drive the transformation of power distribution, enabling a smarter, greener, and more reliable energy ecosystem for communities and businesses alike. PG&E is working with Schneider Electric to enable a cloud-based Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) to maximize the value of electric vehicles, solar and batteries as flexible grid resources.

Skydio is the leading U.S. manufacturer of autonomous drones, revolutionizing the way utility companies inspect and maintain critical infrastructure. Powered by advanced AI and machine learning, Skydio drone solutions provide a safer, faster, and more efficient alternative to manual inspections, delivering high-resolution data from hard-to-reach areas. With a proven track record in transforming operations for major utilities, Skydio’s drone solutions enable predictive, condition-based maintenance, helping companies like PG&E enhance safety, reduce costs, and improve the reliability of their electrical grid. PG&E has integrated Skydio’s Dock technology at more than a dozen electric substations to augment current inspection programs and manual drone operations.

Treeswift empowers utilities with AI-augmented vegetation management that reduces risk and improves reliability across transmission and distribution systems. Treeswift’s backpack and vehicle-mounted sensors seamlessly integrate into existing patrols to gather imagery and LiDAR data. Treeswift’s AI translates this data into actionable analytics and 360° field context for encroachment, strike potential, and failure risk via its software platform for vegetation management experts, arborists, and tree crews. PG&E identified Treeswift through its 2023 Pitch Fest.

WeaveGrid is a leading EV Management System (EVMS) provider whose software enables grid-integrated electric vehicle charging. The company’s software platform optimizes EV charging to align with periods of high renewable energy availability and ensure ongoing electric grid reliability and resiliency, while keeping preferences and controls at a driver’s fingertips. WeaveGrid’s approach supports broad participation in managed charging programs and reduces the costs of serving EV loads through distribution-integrated smart charging orchestration (DISCO). WeaveGrid partners with utilities, charging providers, and automakers to accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation. PG&E and WeaveGrid have collaborated on managed charging programs including evPulse and EV Charge Manager.

Visit www.pge.com/innovation for information about PG&E’s Innovation Summit 2024 and to learn more about PG&E’s efforts to accelerate energy R&D.

About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than sixteen million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news  

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pge-2024-innovation-summit-to-showcase-novel-climate-tech-solutions-additional-speakers-confirmed-302282107.html

SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company

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Technology

Portland General Electric declares dividend

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July 25, 2026

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PORTLAND, Ore., July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The board of directors of Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.55125 per share.

The company’s dividend is evaluated based on capital requirements and financial performance. PGE targets a dividend payout ratio of 60 to 70% over the long term.

The quarterly dividend is payable on or before October 15, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 25, 2026.

About Portland General Electric Company
Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) is an integrated energy company that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to nearly 960,000 customers serving an area of approximately 2 million Oregonians. Since 1889, Portland General Electric (PGE) has been powering economies, delivering safe, affordable and reliable electricity while working to transform energy systems to meet evolving customer needs. PGE continues to make progress towards emissions reduction targets, and customers have set the standard for prioritizing clean energy with the No. 1 voluntary renewable energy program in the country. PGE is ranked a top ten utility in the 2025 Forrester U.S. Customer Experience Index. In 2025, PGE employees and retirees volunteered over 18,300 hours to more than 400 nonprofits organizations. Through the PGE Foundation, along with corporate contributions and the employee matching gift program, more than $5 million was directed to charitable organizations supporting economic growth and community resilience across our service area. For information: portlandgeneral.com/news.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about the future, involve risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees. Future results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Forward-looking statements include statements, other than statements of historical or current fact, regarding the Company’s amount and timing of dividends payable as well as other statements containing words such as “committed to,” “targets,” or similar expressions.

There can be no assurance that future dividends will be declared. The declaration of future dividends is subject to approval of our board of directors and various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to: our cash flow and cash needs; the timing or amount of dividends paid; the timing or outcome of various legal and regulatory actions; changes in the Company’s business strategy; increases in capital expenditures; changes in capital and credit market conditions, including volatility of equity markets as well as changes in PGE’s credit ratings and outlook on such credit ratings restrictions on the payment of dividends under existing or future financing arrangements; changes in tax laws relating to corporate dividends; deterioration in our financial condition or results, and those risks, uncertainties, and other factors identified from time-to-time in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov and on the Company’s website, investors.portlandgeneral.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other factors.

Media Contact:
Drew Hanson
Corporate Communications
Phone: 503-464-2067

Investor Contact:
Erin Schwartz
Investor Relations
Phone: 503-464-7751

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/portland-general-electric-declares-dividend-302834503.html

SOURCE Portland General Company

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Care Career Announces Acquisition of MAS Medical Staffing, Completing Its First Acquisition Phase and Expanding Annual Revenue Beyond $150 Million, with a Path to Exceed a Quarter Billion by the End of 2026 Through Additional Acquisitions and Organic Growth

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July 24, 2026

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WOODBRIDGE, N.J., July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Care Career, a rapidly growing healthcare workforce technology organization, today announced the acquisition of MAS Medical Staffing, one of the Northeast’s leading healthcare workforce organizations. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition represents Care Career’s seventh strategic acquisition in the past 24 months, further strengthening the company’s position as one of the largest healthcare workforce organizations in the United States while accelerating its strategy to redefine the future of healthcare workforce management through artificial intelligence, enterprise technology, and workforce innovation.

MAS Medical Staffing has built an outstanding reputation for delivering high-quality workforce solutions through strong client relationships, exceptional clinician engagement, and deep regional expertise throughout the Northeastern United States. The acquisition significantly expands Care Career’s geographic footprint while broadening its access to healthcare professionals, client relationships, workforce data, and regional market intelligence.

Care Career is building a technology-enabled workforce ecosystem powered by its AI-powered workforce platform, where every acquisition contributes not only additional market presence, but also expanded data, enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities, digital innovation, and operational scale that continuously improve the experience for clients and clinicians alike. As the platform grows, every clinician engagement, client interaction, credential, placement, and workforce trend strengthens the intelligence of Career’s technology, creating a continuously improving ecosystem designed to deliver faster, smarter, and more effective workforce solutions.

The acquisition also brings MAS Medical Staffing’s MAESTRA® engagement technology, along with its client relationships and clinician network, directly onto Career’s AI-powered workforce platform. MAESTRA’s scheduling, credentialing, and communication capabilities will be integrated into Care Career’s existing technology stack, further enhancing clinician engagement across onboarding, scheduling, and career management while providing healthcare organizations with greater workforce visibility and operational efficiency.

“Our vision is to build the AI-powered infrastructure that modernizes healthcare workforce management,” said Siva Konatham, Group President and Chief Executive Officer of Care Career. “Under my leadership, Care Career is focused on transforming a fragmented, labor-intensive industry into a data-driven, technology-enabled ecosystem that improves speed, efficiency, and workforce visibility for healthcare providers. Each acquisition strengthens our platform intelligence, expands our scale, and enhances our margin potential. By integrating advanced analytics, AI automation, and digital engagement tools, we are not just growing revenue—we are building a smarter, more scalable model positioned to lead the next era of healthcare workforce solutions.”

The combined organization will leverage expanded recruiting resources, centralized credentialing, advanced workforce analytics, AI-enabled automation, and digital engagement technologies—all powered by Care Career’s AI-powered workforce platform—to deliver broader recruiting capabilities, faster response times, enhanced workforce insights, and expanded national coverage. Clinicians will benefit from a seamless digital experience that simplifies every stage of their careers—from job discovery and credentialing to onboarding, scheduling, communication, and long-term career development.

With seven strategic acquisitions completed in less than two years, representing the first round of acquisitions now totaling more than $150 million in annual revenue, Care Career has rapidly expanded its national presence while executing a disciplined growth strategy focused on technology integration, operational excellence, and workforce innovation. The company has also signed additional Letters of Intent with other entities with expected close dates in the third quarter of 2026. Upon completion of these transactions, coupled with organic growth, Care Career expects consolidated annual revenue to exceed a quarter of a billion dollars by the end of 2026.

The addition of MAS Medical Staffing further strengthens the organization’s ability to serve healthcare systems, hospitals, long-term care providers, outpatient facilities, and other healthcare organizations across an increasingly diverse geographic footprint.

“The healthcare workforce industry is entering a new era where technology, artificial intelligence, and data-driven decision-making will define the market leaders,” Konatham added. “Every acquisition we complete expands the intelligence of our AI-powered workforce platform, enhances the value we deliver to our clients, and creates more opportunities for clinicians. We believe the combination of exceptional people, innovative technology, and strategic scale positions Care Career to lead the next generation of healthcare workforce solutions.”

About Care Career

Care Career is a technology-enabled healthcare workforce solutions company dedicated to transforming how healthcare organizations recruit, engage, credential, deploy, and retain clinical talent. Powered by its proprietary AI-powered workforce platform and supported by advanced artificial intelligence, enterprise technology, and workforce analytics, Care Career is building an intelligent healthcare workforce ecosystem that connects providers and clinicians more efficiently while improving workforce performance, operational effectiveness, and patient care. Following seven strategic acquisitions over the past 24 months the first round of acquisitions totaling more than $150 million in annual revenue and with additional signed LOIs under contract expected to complete shortly, positioning the company to surpass a quarter of a billion dollars in consolidated annual revenue by the end of 2026, Care Career has become one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing healthcare workforce organizations, serving healthcare providers and clinicians across the United States.

About MAS Medical Staffing

MAS Medical Staffing is a premier healthcare workforce organization recognized for exceptional service, strong client partnerships, and a commitment to connecting healthcare professionals with rewarding career opportunities. With an established presence throughout the Northeastern United States, MAS Medical Staffing has earned a reputation for quality, responsiveness, and delivering workforce solutions that help healthcare providers meet their evolving workforce needs while supporting clinicians throughout every stage of their careers.

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SOURCE Care Career

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PointsKash Demonstrates How Businesses Can Build on Bitcoin Without Burdening the Blockchain

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4 hours ago

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July 24, 2026

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As industry debate surrounding Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP-110) intensifies, PointsKash unveils an architecture designed to work regardless of the proposal’s outcome.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As the global Bitcoin community debates Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 (BIP-110) and the future of data stored on the Bitcoin blockchain, PointsKash, Inc. today announced that its next-generation kiosk infrastructure was intentionally designed to operate efficiently under any outcome of the proposal.

Rather than storing operational data directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, PointsKash utilizes a layered architecture that combines Bitcoin‘s unmatched security with modern decentralized communications technology. Every transaction, machine event, system update, and operational record generated across the PointsKash network is cryptographically verified, securely maintained off-chain, and anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain through a single immutable cryptographic proof.

This approach allows thousands of operational events to be permanently verified while utilizing only a minimal amount of blockchain data.

As discussion surrounding BIP-110 has intensified across the digital asset industry, PointsKash believes the debate does not require choosing between innovation and responsible blockchain stewardship.

“The industry has been debating whether businesses can build meaningful applications on Bitcoin without unnecessarily consuming blockchain space,” said Michael Herron, Chief Executive Officer of PointsKash. “We believe we’ve demonstrated that the answer is yes. Bitcoin provides the world’s most trusted immutable timestamp and security layer, while higher-volume operational data belongs on technologies specifically designed to manage it. By combining both, we’ve built an architecture that is scalable, transparent, and future-ready regardless of how the BIP-110 discussion ultimately evolves.”

The company’s infrastructure assigns every kiosk its own unique cryptographic identity, allowing each machine to securely authenticate every transaction and operational event. Those records are then independently verifiable through cryptographic proofs while remaining resistant to alteration or manipulation—even by PointsKash itself.

According to the company, this architecture delivers several significant advantages:

Mathematically verifiable transaction records for regulators, banking partners, auditors, and enterprise customers.Improved network reliability, allowing kiosks to continue operating during temporary connectivity interruptions without losing transaction history.Enhanced cybersecurity, with every machine maintaining its own authenticated identity and secure communications.A scalable blockchain architecture that minimizes on-chain data while preserving complete auditability.

“Bitcoin was created to provide trust, security, and permanence—not to become a storage system for every piece of application data,” Herron added. “Our philosophy has always been simple: use Bitcoin for what it does better than anyone else—creating immutable proof that records have never been altered—and leverage modern decentralized technologies for everything else. We believe that’s the future of enterprise blockchain infrastructure.”

PointsKash believes this architecture positions the company among a new generation of fintech innovators utilizing Bitcoin as a secure trust layer while developing scalable financial applications for enterprise deployment.

The technology also establishes the foundation for future blockchain-based financial products currently under development, including enhanced digital audit capabilities, verifiable financial records, enterprise licensing opportunities, and next-generation digital asset infrastructure.

As the Bitcoin ecosystem continues to mature, PointsKash believes its technology demonstrates that responsible innovation and blockchain scalability can successfully coexist—providing enterprise organizations with the confidence to build on Bitcoin without contributing unnecessary data to the network.

About PointsKash, Inc.

PointsKash, Inc. is a financial technology company developing an integrated ecosystem of AI-enabled self-service financial centers, digital banking, digital payment solutions, cryptocurrency services, loyalty rewards, enterprise merchant technologies, and mobile financial applications. Through proprietary software, Artificial Intelligence, and strategic partnerships, PointsKash is building innovative financial solutions designed to empower consumers, merchants, and enterprise organizations throughout North America.

For more information, visit www.pointskash.com.

Media Contact

PointsKash, Inc.
Investor Relations
info@pointskash.com
www.pointskash.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding anticipated technology integrations, Artificial Intelligence initiatives, product development, future commercialization plans, expected operational efficiencies, business strategy, and future growth. These statements are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Factors that could affect actual results include, but are not limited to, technology development timelines, integration efforts, financing, regulatory developments, market conditions, and other risks facing the Company. PointsKash undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pointskash-demonstrates-how-businesses-can-build-on-bitcoin-without-burdening-the-blockchain-302834473.html

SOURCE PointsKash Inc.

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