Latest news with #MarcLevy
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania House makes last-ditch effort to stave off cuts at Philadelphia's public transit agency
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's House of Representatives met hastily Monday to pass transportation funding legislation in a last-ditch effort to stave off deep service cuts at the Philadelphia region's public transit agency. The Democratic-backed bill passed the chamber, 108-95, over the objection of nearly every Republican in the chamber. The nearly $1 billion bill has the support of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, and includes funding for highways, too. But it faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate, where the GOP majority has resisted increasing aid for transit. The bill increases aid for transit agency operations by $292 million, or about 25% more, with the lion's share of the money going to the Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA has said it cannot keep waiting for more aid before it makes cuts, which it says would be more drastic than any undertaken by a major transit agency in the United States. The nation's sixth-largest public transit system has warned that it will cut half its services by Jan. 1 and be unable to provide enhanced service for major tourist events next year. Those include FIFA World Cup matches in Philadelphia, events surrounding the celebration of the nation's 250th birthday, Major League Baseball's all-star game, the PGA Championship and NCAA March Madness games. The deadline push comes after two years of stalemate, amid transit struggles nationwide with rising costs and lagging ridership. SEPTA has said that, on Thursday, it will begin a 10-day preparation period for 20% across-the-board service cuts. Those take effect Aug. 24 and include eliminating bus routes with lower ridership and reducing the frequency of bus, trolley and rail services across the region. Under the plan, fares will then rise by 21.5% on Sept. 1 and, soon after, the agency will impose a hiring freeze. It will carry out another service cut on Jan. 1 that will mean that it will have eliminated half its current services, it has said. Democrats say shoring up public transit agencies around the state is critical to the economy and making sure people can get to work, school and medical appointments. Republicans have objected that transit agencies need to become more efficient, highways need more state funding and transit riders should pay higher fares. Transit agencies in Pittsburgh and elsewhere around Pennsylvania also say they are making cuts or raising fares, or both. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at Marc Levy, The Associated Press
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pennsylvania House makes last-ditch effort to stave off cuts at Philadelphia's public transit agency
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's House of Representatives met hastily Monday to pass transportation funding legislation in a last-ditch effort to stave off deep service cuts at the Philadelphia region's public transit agency. The Democratic-backed bill passed the chamber, 108-95, over the objection of nearly every Republican in the chamber. The nearly $1 billion bill has the support of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, and includes funding for highways, too. But it faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate, where the GOP majority has resisted increasing aid for transit. The bill increases aid for transit agency operations by $292 million, or about 25% more, with the lion's share of the money going to the Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA has said it cannot keep waiting for more aid before it makes cuts, which it says would be more drastic than any undertaken by a major transit agency in the United States. The nation's sixth-largest public transit system has warned that it will cut half its services by Jan. 1 and be unable to provide enhanced service for major tourist events next year. Those include FIFA World Cup matches in Philadelphia, events surrounding the celebration of the nation's 250th birthday, Major League Baseball's all-star game, the PGA Championship and NCAA March Madness games. The deadline push comes after two years of stalemate, amid transit struggles nationwide with rising costs and lagging ridership. SEPTA has said that, on Thursday, it will begin a 10-day preparation period for 20% across-the-board service cuts. Those take effect Aug. 24 and include eliminating bus routes with lower ridership and reducing the frequency of bus, trolley and rail services across the region. Under the plan, fares will then rise by 21.5% on Sept. 1 and, soon after, the agency will impose a hiring freeze. It will carry out another service cut on Jan. 1 that will mean that it will have eliminated half its current services, it has said. Democrats say shoring up public transit agencies around the state is critical to the economy and making sure people can get to work, school and medical appointments. Republicans have objected that transit agencies need to become more efficient, highways need more state funding and transit riders should pay higher fares. Transit agencies in Pittsburgh and elsewhere around Pennsylvania also say they are making cuts or raising fares, or both. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
As electric bills rise, evidence mounts that data centers share blame. States feel pressure to act
By Marc Levy HARRISBURG, Pa.: 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. It's not clear that any state has a solution and the actual effect of data centers on electricity bills is difficult to pin down. Some critics question whether states have the spine to take a hard line against tech behemoths like Microsoft , Google , Amazon and Meta . But more than a dozen states have begun taking steps as data centers drive a rapid build-out of power plants and transmission lines. That has meant pressuring the nation's biggest power grid operator to clamp down on price increases, studying the effect of data center s on electricity bills or pushing data center owners to pay a larger share of local transmission costs. Rising power bills are "something legislators have been hearing a lot about. It's something we've been hearing a lot about. More people are speaking out at the public utility commission in the past year than I've ever seen before," said Charlotte Shuff of the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group. "There's a massive outcry." Not the typical electric customer Some data centers could require more electricity than cities the size of Pittsburgh, Cleveland or New Orleans, and make huge factories look tiny by comparison. That's pushing policymakers to rethink a system that, historically, has spread transmission costs among classes of consumers that are proportional to electricity use. "A lot of this infrastructure, billions of dollars of it, is being built just for a few customers and a few facilities and these happen to be the wealthiest companies in the world," said Ari Peskoe , who directs the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard University. "I think some of the fundamental assumptions behind all this just kind of breaks down." A fix, Peskoe said, is a "can of worms" that pits ratepayer classes against one another. Some officials downplay the role of data centers in pushing up electric bills. Tricia Pridemore , who sits on Georgia's Public Service Commission and is president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, pointed to an already tightened electricity supply and increasing costs for power lines, utility poles, transformers and generators as utilities replace aging equipment or harden it against extreme weather. The data centers needed to accommodate the artificial intelligence boom are still in the regulatory planning stages, Pridemore said, and the 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. States are responding 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 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. New Jersey's governor signed legislation last month commissioning state utility regulators to study whether ratepayers are being hit with "unreasonable rate increases" to connect data centers and to develop a specialized rate to charge data centers. In some other states, like Texas and Utah, governors and lawmakers are trying to avoid a supply-and-demand crisis that leaves ratepayers on the hook - or in the dark. Doubts about states protecting ratepayers In Indiana, state utility regulators approved a settlement between Indiana Michigan Power Co., Amazon, Google, Microsoft and consumer advocates that set parameters for data center payments for service. Kerwin Olsen, of the Citizens Action Council of Indiana, a consumer advocacy group, signed the settlement and called it a "pretty good deal" that contained more consumer protections than what state lawmakers passed. But, he said, state law doesn't force large power users like data centers to publicly reveal their electric usage, so pinning down whether they're paying their fair share of transmission costs "will be a challenge." In a March report, the Environmental and Energy Law Program at Harvard University questioned the motivation of utilities and regulators to shield ratepayers from footing the cost of electricity for data centers. Both utilities and states have incentives to attract big customers like data centers, it said. To do it, utilities - which must get their rates approved by regulators - can offer "special deals to favored customers" like a data center and effectively shift the costs of those discounts to regular ratepayers, the authors wrote. Many state laws can shield disclosure of those rates, they said. In Pennsylvania, an emerging data center hot spot, the state utility commission is drafting a model rate structure for utilities to consider adopting. An overarching goal is to get data center developers to put their money where their mouth is. "We're talking about real transmission upgrades, potentially hundreds of millions of dollars," commission chairman Stephen DeFrank said. "And that's what you don't want the ratepayer to get stuck paying for."
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania is suing the USDA over cutting funding to a $1 billion food aid program for states
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday, saying the agency, under President Donald Trump, had illegally cut off funding to it through a program designed to distribute more than $1 billion in aid to states to purchase food from farms for schools, child care centers, and food banks. The lawsuit in federal court, announced by Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, comes three months after the USDA advised states that it was ending the pandemic-era assistance program because it no longer reflected agency priorities. 'I don't get what the hell their priorities are if not feeding people and taking care of our farmers," Shapiro said at a news conference at a food bank warehouse in Philadelphia. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Harrisburg, asks the court to reverse the USDA's decision to end the reimbursement program. Shapiro's administration, in the lawsuit, said the USDA's termination of the contract was illegal, saying the USDA didn't explain why it no longer reflected agency priorities and that the contract didn't expressly allow the USDA to terminate it for those reasons. Shapiro said he was confident that Pennsylvania would win the lawsuit. 'A deal is a deal,' Shapiro told the news conference. 'They made a deal with our farmers, they made a deal with Pennsylvania and they broke it.' The loss to Pennsylvania is $13 million under a three-year contract, money that the state planned to use to buy food from farms to stock food banks. States also use the money to buy food from farms for school nutrition programs and child care centers. Purchases include commodities such as cheese, eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables. The department, under then-President Joe Biden, announced a second round of funding through the program last year. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at Marc Levy, The Associated Press
Globe and Mail
15-04-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Updated Mineral Resource Strengthens Micro Cap's Development Plans in Chile
Updating a Mineral Resource Estimate is crucial for advancing a mining project through economic studies and development planning. Not only is it important because it reflects the most recent drilling data and geological insights, giving a more accurate picture of the mineral deposit but it builds investor confidence, adds value to the project, and shows that the company is actively progressing toward production. That's exactly what was announced today when Norsemont Mining Inc. (CSE: NOM) (OTCQB: NRRSF) released an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Choquelimpie Gold-Silver-Copper Project in Northern Chile. The new MRE outlines 2,184,000 indicated and 557,000 inferred gold equivalent ounces. The update was based on additional drilling and geological reinterpretations, highlighting the project's potential and reaffirming Norsemont's 100% ownership of the site through its Chilean subsidiary, Sociedad Contractual Minera Vilacollo. The breakdown of the MRE includes 81,888,000 tonnes of indicated resources grading 0.83 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq), with 1,731,000 ounces of gold, 33,233,000 ounces of silver, and 50,867,000 pounds of copper. Inferred resources stand at 25,267,000 tonnes grading 0.69 g/t AuEq, containing 446,000 ounces of gold, 7,219,000 ounces of silver, and 19,104,000 pounds of copper. The updated estimate incorporates 3,144 meters of new drilling conducted in 2021 and improved modeling of oxidation zones. 'This updated Mineral Resource Estimate of 2,184,000 indicated and 557,000 inferred gold equivalent ounces marks a significant milestone for Norsemont and provides a strong foundation as we advance Choquelimpie toward development,' said Marc Levy, President and CEO. He emphasized the enhanced confidence in the resource and the project's growth potential. Moving forward, Norsemont will continue drilling in oxide and sulfide zones, as well as conduct metallurgical testing and economic studies to support a Preliminary Economic Assessment. Shares of NOM were trading up 16.67% at $0.245 while U.S. listed shares (NRRSF) were surging 27.14% at $0.178 in late-morning trading. Copyright © 2025 All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. View more of this article on About Media, Inc.: Founded in 1999, is one of North America's leading platforms for micro-cap insights. Catering to both Canadian and U.S. markets, we provide a wealth of resources and expert content designed for everyone—from beginner investors to seasoned traders. is rapidly gaining recognition as a leading authority in the micro-cap space, with our insightful content prominently featured across numerous top-tier financial platforms, reaching a broad audience of investors and industry professionals. Want to showcase your company's story to a powerful network of investors? We can help you elevate your message and make a lasting impact. Contact us today. Contact: Media, Inc.
