Chief Financial Officer John Moreira blamed the Public Utilities Regulatory (PURA) for the company’s cash flow issues, saying the regulatory agency’s new methodology has prevented it from recovering $800 million related to supply costs and arrearages. PURA no longer allows utilities to forecast costs for supply in rate adjustments. However, Eversource expects to recover that $800 million within the next year, or longer, the company said. In the meantime, Nolan said Eversource is working to evaluate market interest in the sale of Aquarion. He declined to put a valuation on the company and also declined to provide a timetable. Bridgeport-based Aquarion serves about 241,000 customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire — 92% of whom are based in Connecticut. It had net income of $33 million in 2023 and book equity of $1.3 million.

‘Cash coming in the door’: Eversource says potential sale of Aquarion would help alleviate cash flow issues

Residents are opposing a solar project as trees are being removed and open fields are transformed into an access road and clearings for more than 51,000 panels. The project, which is owned by Silicon Ranch and sits on 212 acres in Litchfield and Torrington, was approved in September 2021 by the Connecticut Siting Council. Tree-clearing and other activities began on the site in early November 2023, and blasting began at the end of January. Silicon Ranch made its proposal to the town of Litchfield in 2020 to install more than 50,000 solar panels, called photovoltaic modules. The power generated from the site will be sold to Eversource and United Illuminating, according to documentation from the Connecticut Siting Council, provided by the Torrington land use office.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/controversial-solar-farm-starts-construction-18644593.php

Post Road Residential is angry that, by accepting a brownfield remediation grant from DECD, they are required to ensure the construction workers hired to perform work on their development project would earn not less than our state’s prevailing wage. They’re apparently also upset by having to ensure a certain number of housing units are set aside as affordable. In 2017, the bipartisan budget expanded prevailing wage protections for workers employed on projects funded with economic development monies. It passed with strong support from both sides of the aisle in both chambers. This was a commonsense initiative — if a private company is seeking public assistance dollars for development, then they’re going to in turn pay our state’s workforce a livable wage. Rather than echoing this developer’s gripes, the Town of Fairfield, and frankly DECD too, should instead stick to its principles. Fine, don’t take our money. There are plenty of other developers who will.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/opinion/article/opinion-don-t-let-developers-widen-ct-wealth-gap-18664685.php

Wage theft is a pervasive problem facing workers throughout the US. According to a 2014 report by the Economic Policy Institute, workers lose over $50bn a year to wage theft from employers. Wage theft includes tactics from stiffing workers on pay, failing to properly pay workers for overtime, minimum wage violations, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, and not providing workers with mandated break times. IUPAT is currently assisting workers in holding another local construction company accountable for wage theft and retaliating against workers, Spectrum Construction. IUPAT has launched several campaigns aimed at organizing workers in the construction industry to not only unionize, but to push back against a trend of wage theft and misclassification that union organizers argue has been worsening in the construction industry, especially toward immigrant workers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/it-has-really-gotten-out-of-hand-wage-theft-rampant-in-us-construction/ar-BB1igi32?ocid=socialshare&pc=HCTS&cvid=acc956e394b2473189022f7f628df459&ei=128

Construction of the Constitution Boulevard West extension will continue in earnest come spring, with the first phase of development expected to be completed by the fall, according to city officials. Mike Kanios, the city’s public works director, said work on the site, which began about a year ago, has slowed of late mainly due to delays in receiving permitting from the Department of Transportation. The city received $5 million from the state to complete Phase One of the project, which is already underway. Kanios said the goal is to have Phase One done by the fall but added that some Phase Two work will likely be done during this time too. Kanios said he expects the entire project to be completed by spring of 2025.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/shelton-s-constitution-blvd-extension-work-18625953.php

Members of the Stamford Zoning Board were set to vote on a special permit for a proposed 471-unit downtown apartment complex on Clinton Avenue Tuesday night — until the request was withdrawn at the last minute. The withdrawal happened during a discussion about affordable housing units for the project. New York developer Carmel Partners preferred to contribute roughly $13 million to the city’s affordable housing trust fund as opposed to offering 49 of the units in the development at a below-market rate. A letter dated Jan. 29 from attorney Jason Klein, writing on behalf of the developer, stated that Carmel preferred to make the multi-million dollar payment due in part to the perceived risk of on-site below-market units holding up certificates of occupancy or leasing.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-affordable-housing-clinton-street-18656262.php?src=sthpdesecp

Mountaintop Trucking is looking to renew its earth excavation permit – likely for the last time. The Planning and Zoning Commission will be reviewing the application for the renewal at its meeting Wednesday, City Planner Jeremy Leifert said. It is the ninth time the renewal has come before the commission since about 2005. Danny Stoughton, owner of Mountaintop Trucking, which produces aggregate from material excavated on the property, said the quarry is reaching its end. The quarry renewal repeats every two years, Leifert said. Since the surrounding area is commercially zoned, he doesn’t anticipate “the same pushback” that occurred last spring when O&G Industries and Haynes Aggregates Torrington jointly renewed their permits to excavate a quarry in a more residential area of Winsted Road. In those hearings, neighbors complained of noise from blasting and raised environmental concerns.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/02/11/torrington-commission-to-review-renewal-application-of-quarry-site/

So when a ceremonial ground-breaking was held on the site Jan. 16 it came as a surprise that 160 of the 420 units planned for the first phase of construction would be lower-priced workforce housing. Not low income, but aimed instead at teachers, police officers, nurses and others, and exceeding an affordable requirement in an earlier agreement with the city. According to state officials, the 160 apartments will be spread out among different sizes, from studios to three-bedroom units, and with rents starting around $2,000 per month. The average projected savings for tenants is $385 per month over market rate. Pasquale Guliano is managing director of multifamily programs with the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, a quasi-public agency involved in helping Steelpointe. He in an interview said the challenge the Christophs faced was convincing people with money that luxury housing would work in Bridgeport.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/steelpointe-development-luxury-apartments-18658848.php

After a Common Council committee set the maximum contractor costs for the upcoming construction of the South Norwalk School and the new Norwalk High School, the city is looking at a maximum combined cost for the projects of as much as $271.4 million. Newfield Construction, the South Norwalk School’s contractor, can charge the city at most a committee-approved a $51.8 million. The new high school’s contractor, Gilbane, can charge no more than $219.6 million for the build. Alan Lo, the city’s building and facilities manager, said the city did well with its guaranteed maximum prices. Both projects are set to break ground in late February, Lo said at the meeting. The South Norwalk School is slated to open for students in the 2025-26 school year, while the Norwalk Public Schools anticipates the new high school will welcome its first class in the 2027-28 school year.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/norwalk-new-schools-building-costs-high-sono-18656321.php

n recent weeks, the Westbrook Outlets, an open-air shopping center off Exit 65 of Interstate 95, some 20 miles west of Waterford’s Crystal Mall, has emerged as the potential site of a $425 million development that would involve leveling what’s there now and replacing it with a mix of residential and commercial space. The plan ― still so preliminary it doesn’t have a name ― would comprise 595 apartments, 100 townhouse condominiums, retail and entertainment components, and possibly, a hotel and an amphitheater. Hartford-based Lexington Partners is teaming with the outlets’ owner, T Westbrook Center, a foreign limited liability company, to develop the project. Lexington Partners worked on The Borden project with Westbrook’s town planner, Peter Gillespie, who was then the Wethersfield planner and economic development manager. The relationship smoothed Lexington’s “entree” to Westbrook officialdom, Reilly said.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240210/redevelopment-plan-for-westbrook-outlets-calls-for-mix-of-housing-commercial-space/