Microsoft Gives Azure Cloud Sales for First Time at $75 Billion
The result places Azure behind Amazon.com Inc., long the cloud market leader. That business reported sales of about $112 billion in the most recently reported 12 months ending in March. Amazon is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Thursday.
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Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Analysis-Europe's old power plants to get digital makeover driven by AI boom
By Forrest Crellin PARIS (Reuters) -Some of Europe's ageing coal and gas fired power plants can look forward to a more high-tech future as big tech players, such as Microsoft and Amazon, seek to repurpose them as data centres, with ready-made access to power and water. Companies such as France's Engie, Germany's RWE, and Italy's Enel are looking to benefit from a surge in AI-driven energy demand by converting old power sites into data centres and securing lucrative long-term power supply deals with their operators. The data centre option offers the utilities a way to offset the hefty costs of shutting down ageing power plants as well as potentially underwriting future renewable developments. Tech companies see these sites as a quick way to secure power grid connections and water cooling facilities, two big bottlenecks in the AI industry. "You have all the pieces that come together like ... water infrastructure and heat recovery," said Bobby Hollis, vice president for energy at Microsoft. Lindsay McQuade, EMEA energy director at Amazon , said she expected permitting for data centres to move faster at old sites, where a big chunk of infrastructure was already in place. Utilities can either lease the land or build and operate the centres themselves, securing long-term power contracts with tech firms, he said. The deals offer much more than just the sale of unused land as they include opportunities for stable, high-margin revenue, said Simon Stanton, head of Global Partnerships and Transactions at RWE. "It's more about the long-term relationship, the business relationship that you get over time that enables you to de-risk and underwrite your infrastructure investments," Stanton said. Most of EU's and Britain's 153 hard coal and lignite plants are set to close by 2038 to meet climate targets, joining the 190 plants that have closed since 2005, based on data from NGO Beyond Fossil Fuels, which campaigns to accelerate closure of coal-fired power stations. NEW REVENUE STREAMS The economics of data centre deals can be compelling for the utilities, which can negotiate a long-term power supply contract to underwrite future renewable developments. Tech firms are paying premiums of up to 20 euros per megawatt-hour for low-carbon power, said Gregory LeBourg, environmental program director at French data centre operator OVH. Data centre power demands can be anywhere from a couple hundred megawatts to a gigawatt or more. So the annual 'green premium' - the extra price paid for low-carbon electricity - on top of a base market price could potentially translate into a long-term contract worth hundreds of millions or even billions of euros, based on Reuters' calculations. One long-term option is to build an "energy park" and connect the data centre to a new renewable development, relying on the grid for emergencies, but this is a relatively new concept, industry sources said. Engie wants to double its installed renewable energy by 2030 from the current 46 GW. The group has identified 40 sites globally that it is marketing to data centre developers, including coal and gas plants that could be converted, said Sebastien Arbola, who runs the company's data centre business. One is the Hazelwood coal plant in Australia, which closed in 2017. He declined to disclose details of other sites, saying they are mostly in Europe. Other utilities, including Portugal's EDP, EDF, and Enel said they are also marketing old gas and coal sites for new data centre development. "It's business model diversification," said Michael Kruse, managing partner at consultancy Arthur D. Little. Utilities are creating a new type of business and also new revenue streams, he said. 'SPEED TO POWER' The appeal for tech companies is speed. Grid connection delays in Europe can stretch over a decade, while repurposed plants potentially offer speedier access to power and water. "You actually have the opportunity to move faster," said Hollis at Microsoft. Data centre capacity in Europe is much lower than the United States and Asia due to longer grid connection times and slower permitting, data from Synergy Research Group showed. The data centre operators can choose to buy the renewable power they need directly from the utilities in the form of long-term contracts or purchase from the power market. Real estate firm JLL is working on several conversions, including a 2.5 GW data centre at a former German coal plant and four sites in Britain for a major tech client, said Tom Glover, who works on data centre transactions at JLL. Developers do not often disclose more detail about data centre projects, including their clients, for security reasons. Britain's Drax is also seeking a partner to develop unused parts of an old coal site in Yorkshire, now partially converted to biomass. It offers access to unused water cooling equipment, said Richard Gwilliam, Drax's carbon programme director. Drax is offering a "behind-the-meter" deal where the power plant will provide direct power to the data centre and it can pull from the grid if necessary. EDF has also chosen developers for two sites at gas power plants in central and eastern France. Tech companies are willing to pay more for projects that can start up sooner as they vie for market share in a rapidly growing industry, said Sam Huntington, director of research at S&P Global Commodity Insights. "Speed to power is just the phrase we keep hearing over and over again," he said. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CBS News
23 minutes ago
- CBS News
Mario Lemieux's bid to buy back the Penguins is not close to estimated team value, report says
Mario Lemieux's bid to buy back the Pittsburgh Penguins does not come close what the team's estimated value is likely worth, according to a new report. Earlier this summer, it was reported that Lemieux, along with Ron Burkle and David Morehouse, were interested in buying the team back from the Fenway Sports Group, who purchased the team in 2021. Lemieux and Burkle sold the Penguins to FSG for just shy of $1 billion and last month, it was reported that the Lemieux group was considering its financial options that could lead to taking control of the Penguins again at some point. A new report from Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman suggests that the Lemieux group's bid for the team isn't close to FSG's apparent asking price. The only thing I've heard about that so far is that they're just well below what Fenway would want to be the number," Friedman said on his 32 Thoughts podcast. DK Pittsburgh Sports reported last month that the Lemieux group was prepared to buy somewhere in the range of $1 billion for the team. The Penguins were valued at $1.75 billion in the latest Forbes rankings in the fall of 2024, which came in the midst of franchise values skyrocketing across the National Hockey League. Friedman also referenced the recent $1.8 billion sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning, suggesting that price point could be "where the Penguins would want to be."
WIRED
23 minutes ago
- WIRED
Best HelloFresh Coupons and Promo Codes for August 2025
Get up to 55% off and free meal boxes using a HelloFresh coupon code today. Discover our best codes and discounts to let you save time and money. All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Leveraging meal kit coupons is the extreme couponing of our times—a capitalism hack-a-thon right up there with trial yoga classes and attempting to cancel your Adobe subscription. Meal kits like HelloFresh have always been a better deal than they get credit for, even at full price: It's actually hard to recreate meal kit meals for less than you can get the recipes delivered to your home. But it's especially worth it when you can find a HelloFresh coupon, promo code, or discount at more than half off. I'll admit I wasn't that sold on HelloFresh when I first tried it most of a decade ago. It was useful, it got me out of my staid routines, but I wasn't impressed with the selection. It felt a little basic. But lately? Honestly, it's kinda cosmopolitan these days, after expanding to a dozen countries and absorbing the supply networks from multiple other meal plans. When I last tested the HelloFresh meal kit (7/10, WIRED Recommends), I was surprised to find myself cooking credible home renditions of ramen, ponzu-plum beef stir fry, and Southwest-accented pork roasts. And when I'm able to pick up a HelloFresh discount code, it's generally less than I'd spend on groceries anyway. So it's a good moment to try out a lifestyle where the food comes in the mail. Get 50% Off and up to 10 Free Meals as a New HelloFresh Customer Right now, new and returning customers can take advantage of a HelloFresh discount code offering 50% off your first meal kit box plus a free item each week. Enter your email as part of the signup process, and you'll be auto-subscribed to an email with even more offers for both new and existing customers. Plus, new customers can get up to 55% off and extra free breakfasts, desserts, and other items with other secret discounts. HelloFresh Student and Discount: 55% Off, Free Shipping, Plus Extra 15% Off Education Discounts Available via UNiDAYS HelloFresh meal kits are pretty amenable to dorm life when ordering the ready-to-eat meals—or just saving time during grad school instead of ordering pizza, by letting the Internet do your shopping and meal planning. But student budgets tend to be tight, of course. And so there are steeply discounted HelloFresh coupon codes specifically for students. Follow the link here for a HelloFresh education promo code offering 55% off your first box, free shipping, and a continuing discount of 15% off for the first year. Discounts also apply to teachers who've never tried HelloFresh. Educators and school employees can get up to 12 free meals spread out across 3 boxes, plus free shipping. Click here for the HelloFresh promo code, or go here for more information about educator discounts. Note that the student and educator discounts don't combine with any other HelloFresh discounts or promotions. Special Hero Discount for Military, Veterans, and Healthcare Workers Military discounts are a long tradition in America. HelloFresh also offers hero discount programs for first responders, health professionals, and military personnel. Heroes also get excellent discounts that include 55% off the first order, free shipping, and 15% off for the first year of HelloFresh delivery boxes. This program is open to nurses, hospital employees, EMTs, active military, veterans, and first responders. First responders include law enforcement, 911 dispatch, and firefighters. Click here to see if you're eligible, or follow this link for more information about HelloFresh hero discounts. Note that the hero discounts don't combine with any other HelloFresh promo codes. Give $40, Get $10 With the HelloFresh Referral Program Already a HelloFresh subscriber? You're still eligible for discounts if you pass along subscription information to your friends. Here's how: Send your friends a $40 discount for their own affordable meal kits. Once they sign up using your HelloFresh referral code, you'll also get a $10 credit on your next delivery. These discounts stack. So if you sign up multiple friends with your referral code, you get multiple $10 discounts. Check out the HelloFresh meal kit referral program here. Take Advantage of HelloFresh Come Back Offers Some of these discounts are only available to new HelloFresh customers. But there's a hack to getting discounts anyway. After you pause or cancel your subscription, check your inbox after the next few days or weeks. Often, you'll get HelloFresh coupon codes for discounts. Typical HelloFresh 'come-back' offers after a canceled subscription include: $100 to $180 off (spread out over several meal boxes), free shipping on the first box (after re-subscribing), free items such as dessert, breakfast, or an extra protein per meal, or a free meal box is offered after a break. Typical retention offers, for when customers try to cancel, include: 40% off the next box, if you decide not to cancel, or 25% off the next two meal kits. None of this is failsafe, of course, offers vary for each customer. But as with magazine subscriptions, sometimes canceling, or trying to cancel, will lead to a good discount offer from a company eager to keep your business. When to Save the Most on HelloFresh Subscriptions HelloFresh almost always has some sort of deal going, whether to bring in new customers with an especially choice HelloFresh coupon, or bring back previous customers with HelloFresh discount codes and retention offers. But summer tends to be one of the times they offer the steepest discounts, including 10 free meals across several boxes, complimentary appetizers, free ready-made items, or free shipping on select boxes. The other big times for HelloFresh coupon codes are around Black Friday and the end of the year. HelloFresh often launches limited-edition holiday meal boxes and themed meal kits, not to mention discounts for returning customers looking to cook more at home as part of New Year's resolutions.
