Aggregator

"Amid rising electric bills, states are under pressure to insulate regular household and business ratepayers from the costs of feeding Big Tech's energy-hungry data centers..." reports the Associated Press. "Some critics question whether states have the spine to take a hard line against tech behemoths like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta." [T]he Data Center Coalition, which represents Big Tech firms and data center developers, has said its members are committed to paying their fair share. But growing evidence suggests that the electricity bills of some Americans are rising to subsidize the massive energy needs of Big Tech as the U.S. competes in a race against China for artificial intelligence superiority. Data and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie published a report in recent weeks that suggested 20 proposed or effective specialized rates for data centers in 16 states it studied aren't nearly enough to cover the cost of a new natural gas power plant. In other words, unless utilities negotiate higher specialized rates, other ratepayer classes — residential, commercial and industrial — are likely paying for data center power needs. Meanwhile, Monitoring Analytics, the independent market watchdog for the mid-Atlantic grid, produced research in June showing that 70% — or $9.3 billion — of last year's increased electricity cost was the result of data center demand. Last year, five governors led by Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro began pushing back against power prices set by the mid-Atlantic grid operator, PJM Interconnection, after that amount spiked nearly sevenfold. They warned of customers "paying billions more than is necessary." PJM has yet to propose ways to guarantee that data centers pay their freight, but Monitoring Analytics is floating the idea that data centers should be required to procure their own power. In a filing last month, it said that would avoid a "massive wealth transfer" from average people to tech companies. At least a dozen states are eyeing ways to make data centers pay higher local transmission costs. In Oregon, a data center hot spot, lawmakers passed legislation in June ordering state utility regulators to develop new — presumably higher — power rates for data centers. The Oregon Citizens' Utility Board [a consumer advocacy group] says there is clear evidence that costs to serve data centers are being spread across all customers — at a time when some electric bills there are up 50% over the past four years and utilities are disconnecting more people than ever. "Some data centers could require more electricity than cities the size of Pittsburgh, Cleveland or New Orleans," the article points out...

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

'Although the incident has been marked resolved, in practice it lingers,' admin tells us

A problem with resources for virtual machines is still affecting users in Azure's East US region after more than a week, frustrated admins have told us, despite Microsoft saying the incident is now resolved.…

Much has changed with Mia Sara since her star-making turn in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).

Domingos Serrano, 55, and his wife Maria Serrano 51, alongside their twin sons Domingos and Afonso, both aged 20, tragically died at the scene near Castro Verde.

Some 91 per cent of Britons now believe the NHS should offer regular prostate checks for men, as it does for breast cancer in women.

The show sees members of the public try to win cash prizes by answering quiz questions in specific categories, with the help of a number of celebrity experts.

Bosses have been forced to splash out on specialist ambulances and lifting equipment or pay private providers to carry people who are too large for standard vehicles.

My old baby monitor recently stopped working and I was forced to buy a new one - and splurged on a high-tech device.

There were disappointing scenes as a small group of fans failed to observe the minute's silence in memory of Diogo Jota ahead of Sunday's Community Shield final.

Horrified Peter Andre has reacted to some of the 'disgusting' messages his 18-year-old daughter Princess has received from men online.

The BBC reports: A meteorite that crashed into a home in the U.S. is older than planet Earth, scientists have said... Researchers at the University of Georgia examined a fragment of the rock that pierced the roof of a home in the city of McDonough [30 miles south of Georgia, on June 26]. They found that, based on the type of meteorite, it is expected to have formed 4.56 billion years ago, making it roughly 20 million years older than Earth... The rock quickly diminished in size and speed, but still travelled at least 1 km per second, going through a man's roof in Henry County... Using optical and electron microscopy, Scott Harris [a Univeristy of Georgia geologist] and his team determined the rock was a chondrite — the most abundant type of stony meteorite, according to NASA — which meant that it was approximately 4.56 billion years old. "The home's resident said he is still finding pieces of space dust around his home from the hit."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Myleene Klass looked in good spirits as she arrived for work at Smooth Radio on Sunday following ex Graham Quinn's friends branding her a 'vindictive bully'.

To rapturous applause Prince Harry and Meghan took to the stage to at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Invictus games in Australia.

New claims have emerged around the famous 'Tic Tac' drone sighting, where pilots in 2004 spotted a craft during a training mission with the USS Nimitz off the Southern California coast.

Emergency services rushed to the scene at Beer Head Coast Path in Devon on Friday afternoon following reports that a woman had crashed while landing.

The 37-year-old singer is best known for 2010 hit Cooler Than Me, and his 2016 track with Avicii, I Took A Pill In Ibiza.

The Home Office planned to relocate 35 asylum seekers to a new development in Waterlooville, Hampshire, in a bid to lower the numbers in hotels.

Figures from admissions body Ucas show 30 per cent of 18-year-olds who applied for the 2024/25 academic year said they would be living at home rather than in student accommodation.

There are new features coming to the event for the first time

Vice President JD Vance has added fuel to the GOP's investigation into former President Bill and First Lady Hillary Clinton's ties to former financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.