There is a significant shift taking place in the way we generate electricity, even in the areas where it faces strong opposition. Texas is a prime example of the remarkable progress in renewable power, with continuous record-breaking achievements despite facing opposition from influential individuals.

In February 2021, a severe cold snap placed immense strain on the Texas electricity grid, resulting in extensive blackouts that tragically resulted in the loss of life and brought the region perilously close to catastrophe. As expected, certain individuals quickly pointed fingers at wind power as the cause of the issues, despite the fact that the majority of the capacity loss occurred in gas-fired power stations. They were, however, accompanied by a large number of influential Texas politicians, including the governor, which strongly suggested that they would favor continuously operating energy sources.

Instead, there has been a remarkable increase in the installation of photovoltaic panels since then. In March, solar power surpassed coal as the leading source of electricity in Texas, marking a significant milestone.

According to the Institute for Energy Economic and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the main power grid for most Texans, used a significant amount of solar-generated electricity in March. The total consumption reached 3.26 million megawatt hours (MWh). In comparison, 2.96 million MWh were generated from coal, making the difference approximately 10 percent.

In March, solar production experienced a significant increase of 56 percent compared to the previous year. This growth was three times higher than the March that occurred after the devastating freeze.

IEEFA highlights a series of significant achievements. In March, solar energy accounted for over 10 percent of ERCOT’s electricity generation, marking a significant milestone. At the same time, coal’s contribution fell below 10 percent for the first time.

Even in January, solar power played a crucial role in preventing a system meltdown during a cold snap by meeting nearly a quarter of the demand in the middle of the day.

The records will continue to be broken. By the end of the year, Texas is projected to add over 7 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity to its grid, representing a nearly 30% increase from current levels. Despite potentially less favorable weather conditions, next March is expected to bring even more significant growth in solar energy. Exciting developments are in the works for additional enhancements in 2025. According to the Energy Information Administration, a government agency, solar power is projected to surpass coal as the primary source of electricity in Texas for the entire year.

The demand in Texas is not experiencing significant growth to accommodate the surplus production, especially when considering the slower growth of wind power. Consequently, there is a need to eliminate something from the market. Up until now, the primary source has been coal, not gas. In 2017, approximately 30% of the energy consumed in Texas came from coal. This year, it might exceed 10 percent for the year, even though it dipped below in March, but if it does, it won’t be by a significant margin.

Texans have been known for their tendency to go big in everything they do, including their use of coal. However, times are changing. Last year, it consumed twice as much coal for electricity compared to any other state. The decrease in coal usage in Texas has outpaced the national average, although other states are also making significant progress.

Critics of renewable energy often claim that solar power is ineffective when the sun is not shining. However, it is worth noting that Texas is currently at the forefront of battery installation in the United States. Actually, it’s going above and beyond. When it comes to solar, Texas and America as a whole lag significantly behind China in absolute terms and many countries on a per capita basis. However, when it comes to large-scale battery systems that can store surplus energy during the day and discharge it in the evening, Texas is at the forefront of global innovation.

In a recent report, it was stated that Texas currently has 5.2 GW of operational battery storage, with projections indicating that this number will increase to 10.9 GW by the end of the year. Solar power will ensure that the lights stay on long into the night.

Renewable energy has faced opposition for years from skeptics who doubted its viability, only to be proven wrong time and time again by its success in various locations.

One of the main factors driving the rapid growth of solar energy in Texas, despite the challenges posed by a government that is not particularly supportive of renewable power, is its significantly lower cost compared to other alternatives. If that’s true in Texas, the largest source of fossil gas in the United States, it’s likely that other places will soon follow suit with the energy revolution.

Anduril Industries has made significant progress in its ambition to become the leading American prime contractor, surpassing major defense organizations in the development and testing of small unmanned fighter jet prototypes.

The venture capital favorite outperformed Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman in securing the order as part of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. General Atomics was one of the five recipients of the prize.

As part of the contract work, Anduril and General Atomics will collaborate to design, manufacture, and test “production representative test articles,” according to a statement by the Air Force. The Air Force will make a definitive manufacturing decision in fiscal year 2026 and get fully operational aircraft from vendors by the end of the decade, resulting in a multibillion-dollar investment. The Air Force’s decision to choose multiple companies for delivering production aircraft remains uncertain.

The agreement has the potential to be highly profitable for Anduril. The ultimate goal of the CCA program is to produce a minimum of 1,000 combat aircraft that will operate alongside manned platforms, such as the F-35, and independently deploy their own weapons. The CCA program is a component of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance strategy, which seeks to update the entirety of its flying systems, including piloted aircraft. Boeing and Lockheed are currently being considered for contracts related to manned systems.

Anduril’s success is largely attributed to Fury, an independent aerial vehicle that it obtained through the acquisition of Blue Force Technologies, a company based in North Carolina, last year. Anduril swiftly transitioned from acquiring the technology to achieving a significant defense award within a year.

Investors, including Founders Fund, valued the seven-year-old company Anduril at $8.5 billion in 2022 when it announced its $1.48 billion Series E. The renowned 31-year-old co-founder of the company, Palmer Luckey, has been vocal about his goal to overturn the prevailing zero-sum model in defense spending, where the defense industry giants emerge victorious while the taxpayer suffers. He aims to achieve this by constructing more affordable assets at a significantly accelerated rate.

“Anduril’s involvement in this program has only just started,” stated Jason Levin, Senior Vice President of Anduril. “To ensure the future success of the United States and its allies, it is necessary to deliver CCAs (countermeasures) with a high level of efficiency, affordability, and magnitude in order to surpass the advancing threat.” We anticipate the continuation of our relationship with the U.S. Air Force in order to promptly provide this essential capacity to our Airmen.

IBM made a strategic decision to shift its focus from being solely a provider of cloud infrastructure. This decision was based on the realization that it would not be able to effectively compete with the dominant players in the market, namely Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Subsequently, it has transitioned to assisting IT departments in overseeing intricate hybrid setups, leveraging its financial influence to procure a collection of prominent organizations.

The sequence of acquisitions began with the $34 billion purchase of Red Hat in 2018, followed by the acquisition of Apptio last year. The trend continued on Wednesday with the announcement of the acquisition of cloud management firm HashiCorp for $6.4 billion.

By acquiring HashiCorp, IBM gains access to a suite of cloud lifecycle management and security solutions, as well as a rapidly growing company that outpaces all of IBM’s other ventures. Despite a 15% increase from the previous year, HashiCorp’s revenue, which totaled $155 million in the most recent quarter, is rather meager by IBM’s standards. This addition further strengthens IBM’s expanding portfolio of hybrid cloud technologies, contributing to the company’s overall growth and success.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna recognizes the significance of this component for his company’s hybrid approach, and he also included an AI reference to emphasize its importance. HashiCorp has a demonstrated history of helping clients effectively handle the intricacies of modern infrastructure and the proliferation of applications. The integration of IBM’s portfolio and expertise with HashiCorp’s skills and talent will result in the development of a comprehensive hybrid cloud platform specifically tailored for the AI era,” he stated in a formal declaration.

Last year, HashiCorp gained attention for modifying the license of its open-source Terraform program to be more advantageous for the firm. The community involved in the development of Terraform expressed dissatisfaction and retaliated by creating a new open-source alternative named OpenTofu. HashiCorp has accused the new community of misappropriating Terraform’s open source code by creating the OpenTofu branch. Given the recent acquisition by IBM, it will be intriguing to observe whether the corporation will persist in pursuing this particular mindset.

It is important to mention that Red Hat gained significant attention last year when it modified its open source licensing conditions, which also generated concern within the open source community. These organizations may be a good match, both in terms of their software and their evolving attitudes towards open source.

Recently, the business unveiled a new platform called the Infrastructure Cloud, which is expected to seamlessly integrate with IBM’s hybrid cloud product lineup. Although they did not contribute significantly in terms of functionality, they did consolidate the products into a single entity, facilitating the presentation to clients by the sales and marketing teams.

If IBM applies a comparable approach to HashiCorp as it does to Red Hat, HashiCorp would retain its autonomy within the IBM product portfolio. Tim Crawford, a former CIO of AVOA, advises the organization to keep a neutral stance.

“I have concerns about IBM deviating from Hashicorp’s impartial approach of collaborating with various cloud providers and instead prioritizing IBM Cloud.” In a recent blog article, Crawford expressed doubt that this would remain the situation, citing IBM’s recent demonstration of their increased openness towards rival cloud providers.

HashiCorp was established in 2012 and secured about $350 million in funding prior to its first public offering in 2021.