A team of arachnologists has identified a new species of ladybird spider in northern Morocco. The species, named Eresus rubrocephalus, was found northeast of Sidi Allal El Bahraoui during field collection in a cork oak forest.
The…
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Speaking on Sunday, Ghalibaf warned that if the executive fails to address rising prices of basic goods, parliament would have a “duty” to take action.
But moderate voices in Tehran argue the episode is less about procedure than positioning.
For the sold-out interprovincial derby, head coach Clayton McMillan has made seven personnel changes as they look to compete a season’s double over their arch rivals, whom they defeated 31-14 in memorable fashion at Croke Park in…
An Oregon company is blaming President Donald Trump’s signature budget bill for more than 100 layoff notices it sent to staff two days before Christmas.
A worker carries a solar panel on the roof of the Alta Sea building, an urban, ocean-based research and blue technology innovation campus, at Berth 58 in the Port of Los Angeles on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.
Damian Dovarganes / AP
In a notice sent to the state on Tuesday, Medford-based solar company Purelight Power said it is cutting 109 jobs nationwide and shuttering operations as it prepares to file for bankruptcy liquidation.
About 84 people in Medford will be laid off, as well as another 25 people who work remotely.
The Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which canceled federal tax credits meant to encourage solar power adoption, “had a significant impact on the Company’s business and profitability,” Purelight CEO JD Beck wrote in a letter to the Oregon Dislocated Worker Unit, which supports employers and workers experiencing layoffs.
Purelight specialized in selling and installing rooftop residential solar panels and in helping homeowners navigate tax credits to help with those costs.
Its business strategy had relied on tax credits that it expected would continue for a full decade under the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022 at the urging of then-President Joe Biden.
When Republicans reversed federal support for solar projects, Purelight “reduced its operating costs, attempted to size its business appropriately to the new sales volume, and shifted to selling via a third-party ownership model,” Beck told the state.
But it was not enough for a company that was already facing economic challenges before the policy shift.
Climbing costs and interest rates strained the business as Purelight emerged from a merger with Solgen Power from Tri-Cities, Washington, Beck wrote.
In January, Purelight laid off all 104 Washington state workers who had worked at Solgen, according to the Tri-City Herald.
With the reversal of public support for renewable energy under Trump, “incentives for solar energy vanished, and investments dried up,” and Purelight was unable to finance new projects, sell its assets to another company, or take out a loan to fund operations, Beck said.
At least five people have been killed in a bomb explosion in a packed mosque in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state, a police spokesman has said.
Nahum Daso told local media another 35 people were injured in the blast in the Gamboru market of…
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – The government is considering replacing its net metering policy for rooftop solar with a net billing mechanism for solar consumers across the country, an official confirmed on Wednesday, as Islamabad looks to ease financial strain on the struggling power sector.
Under the proposed framework for the net billing system, electricity generated by rooftop solar systems and exported to the national grid by consumers would be bought at a rate 60 percent lower than the previous price of electricity. Consumers, on the other hand, will continue to buy power from the national grid at the prevailing commercial rates.
Net metering, on the other hand, allows power consumers to offset exported units directly against imported electricity at the same price.
Government officials say the policy change is aimed at easing mounting financial pressure on Pakistan’s power sector, where rapid solar adoption has reduced revenues for distribution companies even as fixed capacity payments to power producers continue to rise.
“Under the proposed regulations, net billing will apply to both old and new customers who will have to pay full commercial tariffs for all imported units,” a National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) official told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
However, he clarified the new rules would be implemented after a public hearing and NEPRA obtains feedback from stakeholders.
As per the government’s proposal, which is available on NEPRA’s website, new solar consumers would get the lower average energy price while existing customers would continue receiving the higher PPP rates until the expiry of their seven-year contracts.
Pakistan Energy Minister Sardar Awais Leghari told Arab News the government would present its position during NEPRA’s public hearing expected next month.
“Contractual obligations will be fulfilled for existing consumers while new consumers will receive energy rates for their produced units as per NEPRA’s proposal,” Leghari said, adding that consultations would continue for at least a month.
Asked whether the policy could be revised, Leghari said: “Only if the regulator approves.”
The government’s proposal has sparked strong concerns among consumers, energy experts and industry stakeholders, who warn the plan could slow the adoption of renewable energy as Pakistan struggles with climate vulnerability, rising fuel import bills and deepening circular debt in the power sector.
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