Markus Andrews

Microsoft’s vice president of energy, Bobby Hollis, said the tech company would consider natural gas with carbon capture as a power solution for data centers.
Chevron and Exxon recently announced they are developing natural gas solutions for data centers.
The tech sector has largely relied on renewable power, but the industry is increasingly turning to alternative power sources as data center electricity consumption rises.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at a company event on artificial intelligence technologies in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.
Dimas Ardian | Bloomberg | Getty Images

HOUSTON — Microsoft is open to deploying natural gas with carbon capture technology to power artificial intelligence data centers, the technology company’s vice president of energy told CNBC.
“That absolutely would not be off the table,” Bobby Hollis said. But the executive said Microsoft would consider natural gas with carbon capture only if the project is “commercially viable and cost competitive.”

Oil and gas companies have been developing carbon capture technology for years, but the industry has struggled to launch it at a commercial scale due to the high costs associated with such projects. The technology captures carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sites and stores them deep underground.
Microsoft has ambitious goals to address climate, aiming to match all of its electricity consumption with carbon-free energy by 2030. The tech company has procured more than 30 gigawatts of renewable power in pursuit of that goal. But the tech sector has come to the conclusion that renewables alone are not enough to power the demanding power needs of data centers.
Microsoft turned to nuclear power last year, signing a deal to support the restart of Three Mile Island through an agreement to purchase electricity from the currently shuttered plant. But it’s unlikely that the U.S. will build a significant amount of additional unclear power until the 2030s.
Data center developers increasingly see natural gas as near-term power solution despite its carbon-dioxide emissions. The Trump administration is focused on boosting natural gas production. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday that renewable power cannot replace the role of gas in producing electricity.
“We’ve always been cognizant that fossil will not disappear as fast as we all would hope,” Hollis said. “That being said, we knew natural gas is very much the near-term solve that we’re seeing, especially for AI deployments.”

Exxon Mobil and Chevron announced last December that they are entering the data center space with plans to develop natural gas plants with carbon capture technology. Chevron struck an agreement with gas turbine manufacturer GE Vernova in January in build gas plants for data centers “with the flexibility to integrate” carbon capture and storage technology.
Hollis declined to say whether Microsoft is having conversations with the oil majors. The executive said the tech company is having “discussions across the board with all of those technologies.”
President Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum in January that he will use emergency powers to expedite the construction of power plants for data centers. Trump said the data centers can use whatever fuel they want. Chevron and GE Vernova announced their plan to build gas plants for data centers days after Trump’s remarks.
“We’re just glad to see that there’s a focus on accelerating schedules to meet what we view as a pretty critical need,” Hollis said when asked about the Trump administration’s plans.
But deploying natural gas faces its own challenges. The cost of new natural gas plants has tripled and the line to build plants now extends to 2030, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said Monday. NextEra is the largest developer of renewables in the U.S. but also has gas assets.
“Renewables are ready to go right now because they’ve been up and running,” Ketchum said at the conference. “It’s cheaper and it’s available right now unless you already have a turbine on order or that’s already been permitted.”
Ketchum said nuclear is unlikely to be a power solution until 2035. NextEra is considering restarting the mothballed Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa. More

As the IRS faces mass layoffs, Democrats warn that “wealthy tax dodgers” could benefit from fewer compliance staff.
The agency in September announced it recovered $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from “high-income, high-wealth individuals,” under Inflation Reduction Act initiatives.

Prapass Pulsub | Moment | Getty Images

As the IRS faces mass layoffs, Congressional Democrats warn those staffing cuts could undermine the agency’s progress in collecting unpaid funds from “wealthy tax dodgers.”
In a letter to Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause last week, more than 130 House Democrats demanded answers about the termination of an estimated 7,000 probationary agency workers, which included compliance staff.

The IRS staffing cuts started in late February and were part of broader federal spending reductions via Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
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The letter from the House Democrats said the agency’s compliance team plays a critical role in “pursuing tax evaders and securing vital revenue” for the U.S. government.
The same day last week, 18 Senate Democrats, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to evaluate the IRS staffing reductions.
The recent layoffs hurt the agency’s ability to “improve collections, crack down on complex tax avoidance and evasion by high-income taxpayers and large businesses,” the lawmakers wrote.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

IRS cuts benefit ‘unidentified, noncompliant taxpayers’

Congress approved nearly $80 billion in IRS funding via the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and more than half was earmarked for enforcement. The agency has since targeted higher earners, large corporations and complex partnerships with unpaid taxes. 
The enforcement plans of the IRS have been heavily scrutinized by Republicans, who have clawed back part of the Inflation Reduction Act funding and vowed to make further cuts.
The agency in September announced it recovered $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from “high-income, high-wealth individuals,” under Inflation Reduction Act initiatives.

Former IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, who served under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden from 2018 to 2022, criticized the recent staffing cuts in a Bloomberg op-ed last week. 
“For decades, IRS operations have been thoroughly depleted by underfunding and annual hiring freezes adversely impacting virtually every internal and external function,” he wrote. “To the extent taxpayer services and compliance functions existed, they were on life support.”
Through fiscal year 2023, the IRS examined 0.44% of individual returns filed for tax years 2013 through 2021, according to the latest IRS Data Book.  More

President Donald Trump’s recent comments about the economy raised fears about a potential recession.
Americans are growing increasingly pessimistic about their financial future as a wave of economic uncertainty takes hold.
The perceived likelihood of missing a minimum debt payment hit a five-year high.

More Americans fear missed payments

Households also grew more worried about being able to pay their bills, the New York Fed’s survey found. Respondents’ perceived likelihood of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months rose to 14.6%, the highest level since April 2020, near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The past few months have shown a resurgence in price increases in many food and energy products,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “Coupled with shelter costs that continue to increase faster than many workers’ wages, the pressure on household budgets is unrelenting.”

Consumers are understandably worried about an economic slowdown as tariffs roll out, according to Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.
Economists say Trump’s tariffs on imports from Canada, China and Mexico are bound to raise prices on a host of consumer goods. One recent report found that 86% of Americans surveyed said trade tensions are likely to hit their wallets.
“There’s just an enormous amount of uncertainty around the economy right now as we watch the early days of the new administration play out,” Schulz said. “People don’t have any idea what things will look like in three to six months, and that’s really unnerving.” 

Consumer confidence is falling

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index sank in February, notching the largest monthly drop since August 2021. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index similarly found that Americans largely fear that inflation will flare up again.
“The truth is that millions of Americans are doing okay right now, but feel like their financial situation could go from pretty good to pretty dicey in a hurry if they were to encounter a job loss, a medical emergency or some other unexpected event,” Schulz said.
“That’s a scary place to be,” he added.
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Ron Baron, founder of Baron Capital.
Anjali Sundaram | CNBC

Billionaire investor Ron Baron is standing by Elon Musk’s Tesla even in the face of its dramatic sell-off. The stock plunged 15% on Monday, its biggest one-day loss since September 2020.
“I can’t believe how cheap they are, things that we look at,” Baron said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday. “I was thinking we would make four times over the next 10 years. I think we’re gonna make more than that now from these prices.”

The Baron Capital chair and CEO first invested $400 million in Tesla between 2014 and 2016, and that early bet has made him billions of dollars as the EV company gained mainstream acceptance. Tesla represented 12% of Baron’s entire portfolio across different funds at the end of 2024.
Tesla shares have been on a roiller coaster ride since Musk went to Washington, D.C. to take on a major role in the second Trump White House. Tesla just suffered a seventh straight week of losses, its longest weekly decline since debuting on the Nasdaq in 2010.

Stock chart icon

Tesla shares in 2025.

Baron Capital trimmed its Tesla position in the second quarter last year because the holding had gotten too big in its portfolio. Baron vowed that his personal Tesla shares would be the last he would touch when it comes to portfolio management.
“I’m the last in, I’ll be the last out. So I won’t sell a single share personally until I sell all the shares for clients, and that’s what I’ve done,” he said.
Musk admitted Monday he is running his businesses “with great difficulty,” as he took on the role of heading Trump’s advisory Department of Government Efficiency, which is engaged in a broad, controversial effort to reduce federal government spending and slash employee headcount at dozens of agencies.
“I would hope that he would be a little less visible, but he feels that this is the way he’s going to get things done,” Baron said of the 53-year-old Musk. “He is more charged up about his business now than he’s ever been.” More

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to limit eligibility for a popular student loan forgiveness program.
Here’s what you need to know.

Apu Gomes | Afp | Getty Images

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to limit eligibility for a popular student loan forgiveness program.
According to Trump’s executive order, borrowers employed by organizations that do work involving “illegal immigration, human smuggling, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property and disruption of the public order” will “not be eligible for public service loan forgiveness.”

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2007, allows many not-for-profit and government employees to have their federal student loans canceled after 10 years of payments.
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The order says that PSLF “has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values.”
Consumer advocates say that is not accurate, and were quick to condemn Trump’s move, accusing the president of depriving debt forgiveness to those who work in fields he does not approve of.
“The PSLF program, which was created by Congress almost 20 years ago, does not permit the administration to pick and choose which non-profits should qualify,” said Jessica Thompson, senior vice president of The Institute for College Access & Success.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request from CNBC for comment.
Here’s what borrowers in the program need to know.

Unclear which organizations could be excluded

For now, the language in the president’s order was fairly vague. As a result, it remains unclear exactly which organizations will no longer be considered a qualifying employer under PSLF, experts said.
The Trump administration might try “to exclude jobs that they deem objectionable,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

What might that mean?
In his first few weeks in office, Trump’s executive orders have targeted immigrants, transgender and nonbinary people and those who work to increase diversity across the private and public sector. Many nonprofits work in these spaces, providing legal support or doing advocacy and education work.
“Borrowers that work for those organizations are concerned,” said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit.

Changes could take ‘a year or more’

Borrowers in the PSLF program won’t see an immediate effect. Trump’s order requested an update to the regulations regarding the program, she said: “That process can take a year or more.”
“I also suspect that this will be challenged in court,” Mayotte said. “The bottom line is that 501(c)(3)s are eligible for PSLF under the law. An EO can’t change.”
Changes also can’t be retroactive, she said. That means that if you are currently working for or previously worked for an organization that the Trump administration later excludes from the program, you’ll still get credit for that time, at least up until the changes go into effect.
For now, those pursuing PSLF should print out a copy of their payment history on StudentAid.gov. Keep a record of the number of qualifying payments you’ve made so far.
With the PSLF help tool, borrowers can search for a list of qualifying employers and access the employer certification form. Try to fill out this form at least once a year, experts say. More

Social Security beneficiaries who receive more money than they are owed will now face a 100% default withholding rate from their monthly checks.
The new policy goes into effect on March 27, the Social Security Administration said.
The change marks a reversal from a 10% default withholding rate that was put into effect in 2024.

Fertnig | E+ | Getty Images

If you receive more Social Security benefits than you are owed, you may face a 100% default withholding rate from your monthly checks once a new policy goes into effect.
The change announced last week by the Social Security Administration marks a reversal from a 10% default withholding rate that was put in place last year after some beneficiaries received letters demanding immediate repayments for sums that were sometimes tens of thousands of dollars.

The discrepancy — called overpayments — happens when Social Security beneficiaries receive more money than they are owed.
The erroneous payment amounts may occur when beneficiaries fail to report to the Social Security Administration changes in their circumstances that may affect their benefits, according to a 2024 Congressional Research Service report. Overpayments can also happen if the agency does not process the information promptly or due to errors in the way data was entered, how a policy was applied or in the administrative process, according to the report.
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The Social Security Administration paid about $6.5 billion in retirement and disability benefit overpayments in fiscal 2022, which represents 0.5% of total benefits paid, the Congressional Research Service said in its 2024 report. The agency also paid about $4.6 billion in overpayments for Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, benefits in that year, or about 8% of total benefits paid.
The Social Security Administration recovered about $4.9 billion in Social Security and SSI overpayments in fiscal 2023. However, the agency had about $23 billion in uncollected overpayments at the end of the 2023 fiscal year, according to the Congressional Research Service.

By defaulting to a 100% withholding rate for overpayments, the Social Security Administration said it may recover about $7 billion in the next decade.  
“We have the significant responsibility to be good stewards of the trust funds for the American people,” Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, said in a statement. “It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds.”

New overpayment policy goes into effect March 27

The new 100% withholding rate will apply to new overpayments of Social Security benefits, according to the agency. The withholding rate for SSI overpayments will remain at 10%.
Social Security beneficiaries who are overpaid benefits after March 27 will automatically be subject to the new 100% withholding rate.
Individuals affected will have the right to appeal both the overpayment decision and the amount, according to the agency. They may also ask for a waiver of the overpayment, if either they cannot afford to pay the money back or if they believe they are not at fault. While an initial appeal or waiver is pending, the agency will not require repayment.

Beneficiaries who cannot afford to fully repay the Social Security Administration may also request a lower recovery rate either by calling the agency or visiting their local office.
For beneficiaries who had an overpayment before March 27, the withholding rate will stay the same and no action is required, the agency said.

Some call 100% withholding rate ‘clawback cruelty’

The new overpayment policy goes into effect about one year after former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley implemented a 10% default withholding rate.
The change was prompted by financial struggles some beneficiaries faced in repaying large sums to the Social Security Administration.
At a March 2024 Senate committee hearing, O’Malley called the policy of intercepting 100% of a benefit check “clawback cruelty.”
At the same hearing, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., recalled how one constituent who was overpaid $58,000 could not afford to pay her rent after the Social Security Administration reduced her monthly checks.

Following the Social Security Administration’s announcement that it will return to 100% as the default withholding rate, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare said it is concerned the agency may be more susceptible to overpayment errors as it cuts staff.
“This action, ostensibly taken to cut costs at SSA, needlessly punishes beneficiaries who receive overpayment notices — usually through no fault of their own,” the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, an advocacy organization, said in a statement.

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Revolving debt, which mostly includes credit card balances, jumped 8.2% in January, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest consumer credit report.
Altogether, consumer debt, including student loans, auto loans and credit card debt, now stands at $5 trillion.
Higher prices driven by tariffs could stretch household budgets even more in the months ahead, experts say.

Total outstanding consumer debt stood at $5 trillion as of January, according to the Federal Reserve’s G.19 consumer credit report released on Friday. That is up slightly from a month earlier but down 0.6% compared to a year ago.
Revolving debt, which mostly includes credit card balances, jumped 8.2% year over year, while nonrevolving debt, such as auto loans and student loans, rose 3%.

“Some small cracks are starting to emerge,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.
Overall, “consumers are still spending, of course,” Rossman said.
However, “sentiment has been depressed — and has taken another few steps down in recent weeks due to tariff worries,” he added.
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The G.19 report shows “significant-but-not-crazy growth in revolving credit, and moderate growth in nonrevolving and overall credit,” according to Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.

But economists say Trump’s tariffs on imports from China, Mexico and Canada are bound to raise prices for consumers, which is fueling concern among households. One recent consumer survey found that 86% of Americans said trade tensions are likely to hit their wallets and another 22% have also started stockpiling certain items, regardless of whether they can afford it.
In the last year, credit card debt rose to a record $1.21 trillion, with 34% of credit card borrowers saying they expect to take on more debt this year, according to a separate poll of 2,000 adults in February by CreditCards.com.

How to get a handle on credit card debt

Credit cards are also one of the most expensive ways to borrow money. The average credit card currently charges more than 20%, near an all-time high.
“If you have credit card debt — and about half of cardholders do — my best advice is to sign up for a balance transfer card with a lengthy 0% promotion,” Rossman said. Cards offering 12, 15 or even 21 months with no interest on transferred balances are one of the best weapons Americans have in the battle against credit card debt, experts often say.
Working with a reputable nonprofit credit counseling agency is another solid option, Rossman added.
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In 2024, 52% of couples who were surveyed said their engagement ring featured a lab-grown diamond, according to the 2025 Real Weddings Study by The Knot.
In the first quarter of 2025, an unbranded, round, 1-carat lab-grown diamond cost, on average, $845, according to Paul Zimnisky, a global diamond industry analyst. A similar natural diamond would cost about $3,895.
Here’s what to know if you are shopping for an engagement ring.

Fg Trade | E+ | Getty Images

More couples are saying “yes” to lab-grown diamonds.
In 2024, 52% of couples surveyed said their engagement ring featured a lab-grown diamond, according to the 2025 Real Weddings Study by The Knot. The popularity of lab-grown diamonds increased by 6% from last year and by 40% since 2019, the bridal site found.

In addition to data from prior reports, the Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study includes insights from nearly 17,000 couples in the U.S. who got married in 2024 and data from couples getting married in 2025.
Many couples end up buying a lab-grown diamond ring because of the lower price tag, according to experts. On average, a proposer looking to buy a lab-grown engagement ring could expect to spend about $4,900 compared with $7,600 for a mined diamond ring, the Knot found.
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In general, lab-grown diamonds can sell for around one-tenth the price of a comparable natural diamond, according to Paul Zimnisky, a global diamond industry analyst and founder of Paul Zimnisky Diamond Analytics.
In the first quarter of 2025, an unbranded, round, 1-carat lab-grown diamond costs about $845, according to Zimnisky’s proprietary data and analysis. A similar natural diamond would cost about $3,895.

Lab-grown diamonds possess the same chemical properties and hardness as naturally mined diamonds, and thus are subject to the same “four C’s” — cut, color, clarity and carat — grading system as natural gems.
The big question — can you tell if a diamond was human-made or mined?
Both stones are optically the same, meaning they will look the same to the naked eye, experts say. However, under the proper testing conditions, scientists and jewelers with the expertise can tell them apart, according to Ulrika F.S. D’Haenens-Johansson, a research scientist and senior manager of diamond research at the Gemological Institute of America.
If you’re in the market for an engagement ring this year, here are some key factors you should consider about lab-grown diamonds versus a natural diamond, according to experts.

Pros and cons to a lab-grown diamond

A major advantage to lab-grown diamonds over natural diamonds is the lower cost. Prices for lab-grown diamonds have been dropping as manufacturers increase the supply.
“The price has become enticing for a lot of people,” said Amanda Gizzi, director of public relations and events at the Jewelers of America, a trade organization.
However, there are other factors to consider when it comes to lab-grown diamonds:

Ethics: For some shoppers, lab-grown stones helped provide an option for those concerned about “blood diamonds,” or diamonds mined in war zones and used to fund conflict and human rights abuses. However, experts noted that the diamond industry has come a long way from how diamonds are sourced. The Kimberley Process is an international trade regime created in 2003 to add oversight to the diamond supply chain and eliminate the trade of diamonds sold by rebel groups or their allies.

Environmental impact: While lab-grown diamonds have gained a reputation for being a “greener” way to purchase diamonds, it’s uncertain how truly sustainable they are. “Lab-grown [diamonds] require higher energy consumption because they’re growing in a laboratory that [is] powered by fossil fuels,” Gizzi said. If sustainability is important, Zimnisky said, consider a second-hand or repurposed diamond for “the lowest environmental impact.”

Value over time: Engagement rings are typically purchased for sentimental reasons and are not considered investments. But it’s worth noting that lab-grown diamonds do not hold their value and will likely sell for less than what you initially paid for, Gizzi said. A high-quality natural diamond or gemstone may hold its value, or even appreciate.

What to consider when ring shopping

The first thing you should do is set a realistic budget, said Lauren Kay, executive editor at The Knot.
“You should determine what price you’re comfortable with,” she said.
The rule of thumb about spending “three months’ salary” on a diamond ring is an outdated myth, she said.
Gizzi agreed: “I haven’t used that in a decade.” 

Whether you pick a lab-grown diamond or a natural one, “buy the best diamond that your budget can afford,” as the ring is a piece of jewelry your significant other will appreciate for a long time, Gizzi said.
“It’s not something that you’re going to upgrade a year later,” Gizzi said.
If you’re in the process of buying a ring, here are two more things to consider when shopping for engagement rings:
1. The four C’s
The four C’s, the color, carat, clarity and cut, can influence the overall cost of the diamond. Knowing which of the qualities matters most to you and your significant other can help you bring down the overall cost, The Knot’s Kay said.
2. The metal
The metal of the ring you choose can also influence the price, Kay said. For example, while platinum and white gold look similar, platinum is “rarer and stronger” and can cost more, she said.
But you also want to consider the longevity of the jewelry piece, she said. Even though white gold can be a cheaper metal and can lower upfront costs, you may want to consider long-term maintenance into the price, she said.
For instance, a durable metal like platinum is unlikely to change color over time, Gizzi said. White gold, on the other hand, will require you to periodically re-plate the ring to restore the original finish.

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