Still, the U.S. industry is charging ahead.

It has raised questions over whether diverting power to higher-paying customers will leave enough for others and whether it’s fair to excuse big power users from paying for the grid.For Big Tech, plugging energy-hungry data centers directly into a power plant can take years off their development timelines and is a much faster route to procuring power than having to connect to the congested electricity grid.

It’s not clear when FERC, which blocked the deal on a procedural grounds, will decide the matter, leaving in limbo regulatory treatment of the deal and others that likely would follow.Already in Pennsylvania, Microsoft announced a deal with the owner of the shutteredto restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement to supply its data centers in four states with energy.

Meanwhile, the owners of what was once Pennsylvania’ssay they will turn it into a $10 billion natural gas-powered data center campus.

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KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces and allied local gunmen fired toward a crowd heading to an Israeli- and U.S.-supported food distribution centerBitcoin, the first and largest crypto, was created in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis as a decentralized digital asset that could act as an alternative method of payment.

The asset has found more popular use as a store of value, like a digital form of gold. Bitcoin has attracted enthusiastic supporters as prices have climbed almost 1,000% in the last five years. But its volatility and lack of regulation are concerns.AfriBit Africa introduced bitcoin into Soweto West in early 2022 through crypto-denominated grants to local garbage collectors, who are often funded by nonprofits. The groups are made up of dozens of young people, who Mdawida says are more likely to be open to new tech.

After gathering on a Sunday to collect trash, garbage collectors are paid a few dollars’ worth of bitcoin. AfriBit Africa estimates that it has put some $10,000 into the community, with garbage collectors acting as the main agents of spreading bitcoin in Soweto West. In Kibera, many people earn about a dollar a day.Now a small number of other residents hold bitcoin, and some merchants and motorcycle taxis accept payments in crypto.