spend

Utility companies to spend $1.4 trillion over the next 5 years amid data center boom

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U.S. utility companies are planning to invest $1.4 trillion over the next five years to update the nation’s ailing power grid as the data center boom intensifies the need for electricity. That’s according to a new report released Tuesday by the nonpartisan nonprofit consumer education organization PowerLines, which analyzed capital spending plans from 51 investor-owned utilities. A … Read more

Mardi Gras Indians, or Black Masking Indians, spend months, thousands of dollars preparing hand-sewn suits

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Every year, on Mardi Gras morning, something extraordinary emerges from the backstreets of New Orleans – groups of Black revelers most tourists will never see. They call themselves Mardi Gras Indians, or Black Masking Indians, and they roam the city’s neighborhoods in dazzling, hand-sewn suits. The tradition dates to the 1800s as a way to … Read more

Trump touted bigger tax refunds this year, but Americans will likely spend them on gas

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy was supposed to start the year with a bang, fueled by an unusually large jump in tax refunds from President Donald Trump’s tax cut legislation. Yet spiking gas prices are on track to eat up those refunds, leaving most Americans with little extra to spend. “Next spring is projected to … Read more

Trump’s Medicaid work mandates are meant to save money. But first states will have to spend millions

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — To receive Medicaid health coverage, some adults will soon have to show they are working, volunteering or taking classes. But to gather that proof, many states first will have to spend millions of dollars improving their computer systems. Across the nation, states face an immense task and high costs to prepare … Read more