Synchronous condenser has been built by RWE at its existing Pembroke power station site

The first in a new wave of clean grid technology is to start spinning in Pembroke this week, as the National Energy System Operator (NESO) helps keep Britain’s electricity system stable as it moves towards a renewables-led energy system.

The synchronous condenser, built by RWE at its existing Pembroke power station site, is a large rotating machine that provides clean inertia.

Inertia is a key characteristic of the electricity system that helps resist sudden changes in frequency following unexpected disturbances. It acts as a natural shock absorber, helping to maintain a stable and secure flow of electricity to homes and businesses.

Historically these services were provided by large spinning generators at coal, gas and nuclear power stations.

The project in Pembroke is the first of a new wave of 16 synchronous condensers under NESO’s Stability Pathfinder programme, delivering new ways to keep the electricity system reliable as more wind and solar power comes online.

The stability technologies will help cut emissions, strengthen energy security, and save consumers up to £9bn in system costs over the years ahead.

Director of Engineering at NESO, Matt Magill, said: “Projects like Pembroke will help reduce emissions, strengthen energy security, and save consumers up to £9bn as Britain moves towards a clean power system.

“Through our world-leading Stability Pathfinder programme, NESO has pioneered new markets for technologies such as synchronous condensers and Britain’s first grid-forming batteries. Together, they are helping replace services traditionally provided by fossil fuel power stations, while maintaining one of the world’s most secure and reliable electricity systems.”

This is the fourth synchronous condenser to go live in Wales and the first to be built by RWE at its Pembroke Net Zero Centre. The location brings together battery storage, carbon capture, and green hydrogen projects on the site of its gas-fired power station.

Chief Executive Officer of RWE Generation SE, Nikolaus Valerius, said: “The successful commissioning of our new synchronous condenser at Pembroke is an important milestone for the project and for the wider electricity system.

“As more renewable generation connects to the grid, technologies like this will play an increasingly important role in maintaining a secure and reliable electricity network, supporting the Government’s ambition to deliver a clean power system while strengthening resilience.”

The programme currently provides 17.2 GVAs (gigavolt-ampere seconds) of inertia to Britain’s electricity network. The next phase will add a further 26.9 GVAs, more than doubling the amount of clean stability available on the system.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman warned that New York City’s rent freeze, tax policies and limits on development could worsen the city’s affordability crisis by discouraging construction and investment.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fortune published Wednesday, the Pershing Square Capital Management founder argued that government policy is driving up housing and energy costs in New York.

“The answer isn’t socialism – socialism is a disaster,” Ackman said. “Watch what happens to New York City if [Mayor Zohran] Mamdani succeeds in implementing these plans.”

Ackman said New York’s housing shortage stems in part from rules that make it difficult and costly for developers to build.

BILL ACKMAN SLAMS CALIFORNIA WEALTH TAX AS ‘EXPROPRIATION’ OF PRIVATE PROPERTY

Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman is pictured in New York on April 29, 2026. Ackman argued that government policy is driving up housing and energy costs in New York. (John Lamparski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It’s so high because left-wing mayors have made it very difficult for developers to build here, and Mamdani, by freezing rents, is just going to make the problem worse,” he said.

New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board voted in June to freeze rents on one- and two-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments.

Ackman argued that rent controls can shift more costs onto tenants in market-rate units. He also claimed roughly 60,000 apartments have been pulled from the market because landlords cannot recover renovation costs under current regulations.

“If you make it hard to build where people want to live, and you don’t let landlords recover renovation costs, they’ll pull units off the market,” Ackman said.

He pointed to Austin, Texas, as an example of a city where increased construction helped bring rents down.

Ackman also blamed New York’s energy policies for adding to residents’ cost of living.

“Why are energy costs so high in New York State? Because we’ve shut down nuclear power, it takes 15 years to get a pipeline approved, and we’ve banned fracking – so we’re importing natural gas from Pennsylvania,” he said. “That’s just bad policy, and we can fix a lot of it with better policy.”

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New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board voted in June to freeze rents on one- and two-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Ackman then turned to taxes, arguing that New York should encourage wealthy residents and businesses to invest in the city rather than risk driving them elsewhere.

“You want people like Ken Griffin locating Citadel here – spending $250 million on an apartment, because that purchase makes a building economically viable, which creates construction jobs and brings in wealthy residents who pay taxes,” Ackman said. 

He added, “You don’t want to discourage people like Elon Musk from locating their businesses here.”

Ackman has previously been critical of New York City’s new pied-à-terre surcharge, which applies to certain high-value properties that are not used as an owner’s primary residence.

He also criticized California’s Proposition 40, which could impose a one-time tax equal to 5% of the net worth of billionaires who were California residents on Jan. 1, 2026. 

“Look at what’s happening in California right now with the wealth tax – they say it’s ‘one time,’ but it’s never one time,” he said.

Ackman also said many Americans have not benefited directly from the wealth generated by the stock market.

STEVE HILTON WARNS CALIFORNIA ECONOMY WILL ‘ABSOLUTELY COLLAPSE’ UNDER ‘INSANE’ BILLIONAIRE TAX

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference on June 4, 2026. Ackman has previously been critical of New York City’s new pied-à-terre surcharge. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“One of our biggest challenges as a country is that almost half the country isn’t participating in the growth in value created by capitalism – the stock market,” he said.  

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He argued that workers without retirement accounts or stock investments may be less likely to believe that the economic system is working for them.

“Part of that is people feeling left behind – wages can’t compound as quickly as stocks, so everyone needs to participate in the market to believe in capitalism,” he said. 

Mamdani could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.

FOX Business’ Michael Dorgan and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

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Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday said it saw record-breaking revenue growth in its streaming segment, anchored by HBO Max, ahead of increased scrutiny over its proposed merger with Paramount Skydance.

The media company said in its second-quarter earnings report that its streaming segment surpassed $3 billion in revenue, marking a 10% increase from the year prior, with more than $500 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

“For all that’s changing in how people consume entertainment, we have held firm to our conviction that there is no substitute for creative excellence and quality storytelling, and it’s driving strong results,” CEO David Zaslav said on a call with analysts. “Nowhere is it more evident than our streaming business, where the breadth, artistry and cultural influence of HBO programming across the globe is translating into great financial progress for HBO Max as a streaming offering.”

The company said the gains in streaming were reflective of growth in new markets for HBO Max as well as its content slate, including popular shows like “Euphoria,” “House of the Dragon” and “The Pitt.”

The second half of the year is expected to be strong with additions like “Harry Potter” and “Gilded Age,” the company added.

Zaslav said the company has “succeeded in making HBO Max a highly valuable global streaming service.”

Warner Bros. also said advertising revenue for its streaming business increased 9%, primarily due to an increase in global ad-lite subscribers. However, following a new media rights package that no longer includes NBA games for the streaming service, Warner Bros. said the lack of basketball advertising negatively impacted the year-over-year growth rate by 16%, excluding the impact of foreign currency exchanges.

Paramount CEO David Ellison said in May that he plans to merge HBO Max and Paramount+ into one streaming service under his proposed acquisition of the company. That merger has been held up by a challenge by state attorneys general and will go to trial in March.

The concept of a combined streaming business drew early criticism from lawmakers who deemed the deal anticompetitive, though Paramount and WBD say they need scale to compete with the industry giants.

Paramount+ had roughly 81 million global subscribers as of the end of its most recent quarter. A combined Paramount+ and HBO Max service would have about 200 million subscribers, Ellison previously said.

Ellison added he wouldn’t disrupt the HBO brand and that “HBO should stay HBO.”

Zaslav added on the call with analysts that CNN linear viewership increased 24% over the previous year, with minutes spent across all CNN platforms rising 19%.

“In a turbulent geopolitical moment, the quality, trustworthiness and reliability of CNN’s journalism again proved itself,” he said.

For its second quarter, Warner Bros. Discovery reported revenue of $8.72 billion, a decline of 11% from the year-ago period and falling short of Wall Street expectations of $9.29 billion, according to LSEG.

WBD posted net income attributable to the company of $149 million, or 6 cents per share, compared with $1.58 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the same quarter a year prior. The company said that drastic decrease was the result of pre-acquisition adjustments to the value of intangible assets as well as restructuring costs.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $1.88 billion, compared with $1.95 billion in the year-ago period.

Correction: Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming segment surpassed $3 billion in revenue, marking a 10% increase from the year prior. An earlier version misstated a figure.

When financial anxiety spikes, the impulse to aggressively pay off a car loan or mortgage seems like a bulletproof step toward financial freedom, but credit repair expert and influencer Micah Smith warns that suddenly paying off those loans can actually backfire and drag down your credit score.

Instead, turning around a credit score — sometimes taking a profile from the 400s into the 700s in just one month — comes down to precise timing, strategic balance targets and leveraging forgotten rules hidden inside consumer credit law.

“It really takes a deep understanding of how credit works, but 400s to 700s is very realistic,” Smith told Fox News Digital.

“The biggest thing we look at right away is, how is the positive credit being used? Is there any positive credit there? Then we take a look at the negative items. What kind of negative items are there?” she continued. “You really want to assess those two things… and are there any quick wins available on the credit report?”

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Smith has previously broken down how credit utilization — or amounts owed — makes up 30% of a standard FICO credit score calculation, while payment history accounts for 35%. But to see a quick improvement in your credit score, it’s important to note that credit card issuers report account balances to the credit bureaus once per month on the account’s statement closing date, not the payment due date.

A shopper pays for a purchase using a credit card in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, July 16, 2026. (Getty Images)

The credit expert emphasized that maintaining an overall utilization ratio below 10%, and ideally under 7%, signals low credit risk and generates maximum point gains in scoring models.

“Most people don’t realize how much their credit card usage is impacting their credit score,” she said. “You can call your credit card company and say, ‘When is my closing date?’ And… you wanna get your balance down to 6% utilization or less. So if you have a $1,000 credit card, you want that balance to be $60.”

“The other thing you can do is, if you’re eligible, you actually also can ask for a credit limit increase to widen that gap. So that way the balanced limit ratio, you can widen it by asking for a credit limit increases. If it’s an inquiry, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s two to five points. It’s nominal. But sometimes, that can actually increase a person’s credit score by not having to part ways with a ton of money.”

Smith also cited a June 2026 LendingTree survey, which found that 84% of credit cardholders who requested an interest rate (APR) reduction were successful, yet only 23% of cardholders actually asked for one.

“You can help yourself by picking up the phone, making a phone call, and you can actually pay down your debt a lot faster just by simply asking for a reduction in the interest,” she noted.

“Half the money that you win or lose in life will be done at the negotiation table. So I would take a look at all of your bills, see what can be negotiated. People underestimate — rent can be negotiated, utilities can be negotiated, credit cards can be negotiated.”

“It’s so important to know where to apply the appropriate funds. Because if you apply it in the wrong places, thinking it’s gonna drive the credit score upwards, you’re going to find yourself very, very disappointed.”

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There are times, however, when paying off debt or loans can backfire, according to Smith. Installment loans, including mortgages, auto loans and student loans, differ from revolving credit such as credit cards. When an installment loan is paid off, the account status shifts to “closed,” which can reduce credit mix diversity — worth about 10% of a FICO score — and pause active positive payment reporting.

“The most common mistakes that we see in credit today that backfire badly would blow your mind… They will actually have enough money to pay off student loans in full. They’ll have enough to pay off their cars in full, they might have enough money to pay off their mortgage in full thinking that they’re going to drive their credit scores up. And actually, it takes the credit scores backwards,” she warned.

“When you pay off an installment loan, it’s closed. So that positive history, it stops calculating into the credit score. And so you actually end up suppressing the score,” Smith continued. “This is why it’s so important to know where to apply the appropriate funds because if you apply it in the wrong places, thinking it’s going to drive the credit score upwards, you’re going to find yourself very, very disappointed.”

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While securing a rapid score boost provides an immediate surge of confidence and momentum, Smith stresses that a 30-day triage plan is only the first step. To ensure quick credit wins turn into long-term financial security, the focus must shift from temporary fixes to automated systems.

“Short-term fixes, those are amazing. We’re so grateful when we get these really quick short-term fixes, but it ultimately hasn’t addressed the underlying problem,” she said. “People need to be reminded more than they’re taught… It’s not because you understand credit so well, it’s because you don’t and you haven’t built the habits yet. And so we’re reinforcing those habits day after day, week after week, month after month. And so we’re constantly focused on reminding more than teaching, and I think that’s a very important principle that we all need to know.”

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