An innovative fuel cell development that has been a decade in the making is now under construction and will provide heat to a nearby university and generate enough electricity annually that could potentially service 8,500 homes. Scale Microgrids, the project’s New Jersey-based developer, expects the 3.5-story Bridgeport development near Interstate 95, with 21 fuel cells to come online next year, and the company sees future expansion of its base of customers purchasing heat. The clean energy development will initially provide heat to nearly 20 buildings at the University of Bridgeport and a new city high school. In addition, the project also has signed on a local company that sterilizes medical waste. Scale Microgrids declined to comment on the project’s cost. But a 2021 filing with the Connecticut Siting Council estimated the cost to be about $70 million, with a capital investment of up to $78 million but that does not reflect price increases sparked during the pandemic. The heating and power development — known as the Charter Oak Combined Heat and Power Project — is launching construction as the state this year has updated its greenhouse gas reduction targets. The reduction target is 65% below 2001 levels by 2040 and an economy-wide, net-zero level by 2050, provided those emissions are reduced at least 80% below 2001 levels.

CT clean energy project will heat a university. It also could power thousands of homes.

Hartford’s effort to transform vacant lots and underused buildings to the south of Bushnell Park just got a big boost with a $3 million state investment in stormwater improvements. The state Bond Commission, on Friday, approved a $3 million grant through the Capital Region Development Authority for a roughly mile-long pipe to carry stormwater runoff away from the “Bushnell South” area and into the Park River. The new system will allow developers to tie drainage systems carrying water from their building rooftops and parking lots into a stormwater sewer system, rather than into stormwater retention systems that are expensive and eat up otherwise buildable space on their lots. The Metropolitan District and Capital Region Development Authority have worked closely over the past two years to finalize a cost-sharing arrangement for the roughly $4.5 million project. Jellison expects to hammer out a final cost-sharing agreement with the state and CRDA later this year, then launch an 18-month construction effort at some point next year.

$3M state stormwater infrastructure grant opens door to development near Hartford’s Bushnell Park

With the city seeking bids from demolition contractors, time is rapidly running out for Gary Flocco to break ground on the redevelopment of the four blighted structures in question. He anticipates closing on the loans needed to finance construction by mid-September, before Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration can actually move forward with razing 62, 72 and 80 Cherry St. and 1325 Railroad Ave. Situated on the outskirts of downtown between the railroad tracks and Interstate 95, Cherry Street Lofts is a prominent renovation of some old abandoned factory buildings that initially earned Flocco accolades. The complex opened in 2018 and currently boasts a charter school and 158 units of affordable “workforce housing” priced for tenants earning roughly $54,000 to $80,000 annually. But again, nothing happened. So a few weeks ago, the city began advertising for bids from demolition contractors with a submission deadline of Aug. 12. Flocco said he was not given a heads-up, and upon learning of the move, subsequently reached out to the Ganim administration for more time.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-cherry-street-lofts-demolition-20804826.php

A proposal to sell 17.3 acres of city-owned land in the Waterbury-Naugatuck Industrial Park to online retail giant Amazon for an access road for its new logistics center now under construction there is being revived. The administration of Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. resubmitted a request to sell the parcel to Amazon for $325,000 to the Board of Aldermen two months after the original sales proposal was withdrawn because Amazon required more time. The $2.5 million sale was conditioned on the granting of an easement across the 17.3-acre parcel of city-owned land for an access way to the warehouse and distribution hub. City officials later offered to sell the land to Amazon after they determined the lot would have limited development opportunities due to being divided by the access road and the difficult topography on its remaining sections. The city and company negotiated the $325,000 sales price. Site work and construction has started on the five-story, 3.2 million-square-foot logistics center. The construction contract sets a three-year timetable for completion, but Bluewater and Amazon can request two extensions totaling 18 months.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/waterbury/article/waterbury-amazon-center-land-sale-naugatuck-20804651.php

First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker said now that all the costs of the proposed sewer installation project that Sound View Beach residents would pay have been revealed, it is no longer affordable. Shoemaker said this based on a price threshold that, if passed, would let the town tell the state it can’t move ahead with the project. The state has compelled Sound View Beach and three private beach associations to install sewers to stop septic tanks polluting Long Island Sound. State funding will cover half of Sound View’s $17.1 million portion of the $61 million. Sound View Beach property owners will have to pay back $8.5 million to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Previously, Sound View residents were told this means an annual cost of $1,939 a year per equivalent dwelling unit, up $570 from earlier price estimates. The Water Pollution Control Authority, or WPCA, the town commission overseeing the installation at Sound View, had not included user fees, maintenance and operational costs passed on to ratepayers, or fees to connect to systems in East Lyme and New London in its estimated yearly costs to users.

https://theday.com/news/773538/first-selectwoman-casts-doubt-on-viability-of-major-old-lyme-sewer-installation-project/

The Trump administration is canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development, the latest step to suppress the industry in the United States. More than 3.5 million acres had been designated wind energy areas, the offshore locations deemed most suitable for wind energy development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is now rescinding all designated wind energy areas in federal waters, announcing on Wednesday an end to setting aside large areas for “speculative wind development.” Trump began reversing the country’s energy policies after taking office in January. A series of executive orders took aim at increasing oil, gas and coal production. The Republican president has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. Attorneys general from 17 states, including Connecticut, and the District of Columbia are suing in federal court to challenge Trump’s executive order halting leasing and permitting for wind energy projects. His administration had also halted work on a major offshore wind project for New York, but allowed it to resume in May.

Trump administration cancels plans to develop new offshore wind projects

Bloomfield-based CTEC Solar is planning a 14-acre solar farm on Hartford’s former landfill along I-91, a deal that’s projected to yield a few million dollars to the city over the next 20 years. The agreement is the latest in a series of arrangements where Connecticut cities and towns are leasing closed landfills to solar energy companies. The deals typically provide revenue for the host community while enabling the solar industry to cover essentially useless land with solar panels rather than taking out-of-service farmland, open fields or similar space. Hartford leaders say the agreement will be an environmental and economic win, with the city putting up no money while getting protection from sharing CTEC’s risks. Under the contract, CTEC is responsible for designing, engineering, install and maintaining a ground-mounted array near the center of the former landfill.

Former massive CT landfill targeted to become source for revenue and energy. The idea is spreading

Encompass Health Corp. wants to build a second rehabilitation hospital in Connecticut. The Birmingham, Alabama-based company filed a certificate of need (CON) application on July 25 with the state Office of Health Strategy seeking approval to build a $69.5 million, 50-bed, for-profit rehab facility on property at 596, 612 & 616 East Main St. According to the 467-page CON application, Encompass Health, doing business as Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Branford LLC, would construct a one-story, 54,765-square-foot facility with 50 beds. The construction price includes “land costs and the associated sitework for the property including, for example, grading costs of approximately $1.35 million, rock allowance of approximately $750,000, allowance for retaining walls of approximately $300,000, and underground detention costs of approximately $900,000.”

Encompass Health seeks state OK to build $69.5M rehab hospital in Branford

East Lyme, Connecticut, lies on Niantic Bay and is part of the Long Island Sound. The town has a steadily increasing population of nearly 20,000. Running through the town is I-95, which the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and Manafort Brothers, Inc. are reconfiguring to improve safety and increase mobility. The project is taking place along a 1.33-mile stretch of I-95. The average daily traffic along this stretch is 80,000, and congestion is common. “The project will correct the insufficient sight lines that people have while traveling along the interstate,” said Andrew Millovitsch, the CTDOT Project Engineer overseeing the project. A final project element involves the installation of 16 retaining walls. Their size will vary from small to huge structures. The retaining walls are being installed to maintain the elevation changes. Located in Plainville, Connecticut, Manafort Brothers Inc. is a “demolition and construction company that performs specialty construction and demolition services as well as general contracting services,” according to their website.

https://newenglandconstruction.news/NEC/article/3416211A-connecticut-dot-project-to-reconfigure-the-curve-on-i-95-in-east-lyme

Three Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) projects won regional awards in the 2025 America’s Transportation Awards competition, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Twenty-six transportation projects were submitted by seven states and the District of Columbia in the Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials (NASTO) region for this year’s competition. Projects are judged in four categories: Quality of Life/Community Development, Operations Excellence, Best Use of Technology and Innovation, and Safety. On May 2, 2024, a collision involving a flatbed tractor trailer and a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel on Interstate 95 led to a fire that engulfed the Fairfield Avenue Bridge in Norwalk, Connecticut, for nearly two hours, heavily damaging the two-span structure. After the reopening, reconstruction of the bridge began. The emergency replacement project was awarded to Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc., of Yonkers, New York.

https://newenglandconstruction.news/NEC/article/648002A7-three-connecticut-projects-win-regional-america-s-transportation-awards