In March, First Selectman Rob Brule signed a host fee agreement with data center developer NE Edge, which wants to construct two two-story data buildings and a switchyard at Millstone. It would receive power directly from the plant and pay the town $231 million over the 30-year life of the agreement. At Monday’s Representative Town Meeting, Town Attorney Nick Kepple raised another potential benefit for the town beside the $231 million payment ― that the data center might be a way of extending Dominion’s operation of the Millstone Power Station. Dominion petitioned in July for a declaratory ruling from the Connecticut Siting Council to sever three parcels from Millstone’s property to be used for the data center. In September, the siting council voted, in spite of numerous requests from concerned citizens, not to hold a public hearing on the petition, and to set a deadline for a decision on the boundary request for Jan. 24, 2024.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20231206/is-data-center-key-to-extending-millstones-future-in-waterford/#

The renewed onshoring push is already stretching procurement timelines for many materials across the board, namely microchips, HVAC equipment, electrical switchgear and fabricated millwork. Chip factories, battery plants and even data centers all require more and larger steel conduit than typical nonresidential construction, such as office buildings or hospitality facilities, said Dale Crawford, executive director of the Steel Tube Institute, a Chicago-based organization that brings together key producers in the steel industry. Spending on manufacturing construction projects, the largest nonresidential building segment, reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $206.85 billion in October, a 71.2% increase from October 2022. Prices for steel mill products, such as large structural sections, heavy plate, strip, wire rod, bars and pipe, dropped 2.5% in October, and remain down close to 10% over the past 12 months, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. However, despite much-needed cooling over the past year, steel mill products are still 62.1% more expensive than in February 2020.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/megaprojects-demand-steel/701533/

The EPA proposed new restrictions Thursday that would require the replacement of virtually all lead water pipes across the U.S., according to a White House press release. Under the proposal, utilities must replace lead pipes entirely over the next decade at a pace of 10% each year, and must create inventories of all their lead pipes. The agency will accept public comments on the proposal for 60 days and will finalize the rule sometime next year. The plan would affect about 9 million pipes across the country, and could cost $20 billion to $30 billion, according to The New York Times. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act designates $15 billion to help utilities pay for the upgrades along with $11.7 billion in general-purpose funding through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund that can be used for lead pipe replacement, according to the release.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/epa-lead-pipe-replacement/701583/

Last week, some leaders acknowledged during an extraordinary press conference that advocates of the regulations had badly misread the depth of opposition, or at least the doubts. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, admonished those who demeaned or dismissed the opposition. “I think there is a real recognition that maybe we missed the mark in ensuring that people feel comfortable with this,” said Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, co-chair of the Transportation Committee. “A few things pop out at me. The first one is Connecticut has to be be very clear what this is,” Ritter said. “The greatest misconception that is out there is that in 2035 you cannot buy a gas-powered vehicle. That’s not accurate.” The regulations that failed would have allowed plug-in hybrids, which are powered by both electric motors and gasoline engines, to be part of the new-car mix still allowed in 2035. Gas-powered cars also still could be sold in the used-car market.

A ban on new gas-only car sales in CT? For legislators, it’s tricky

A budget signed by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey this week will allow utilities to raise rates to make up for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs to complete a transmission line to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England electricity grid. The head of Central Maine Power Co.’s corporate parent Avangrid has said the cost of the $1 billion project grew to $1.5 billion as litigation delayed construction and inflation caused prices to creep upward. Legislation included in the supplemental budget adopted Monday allows transmission service agreements to be renegotiated and additional costs to be passed along to Massachusetts ratepayers to cover the added costs. The project was envisioned to meet Massachusetts’ clean energy goals, and the cost is fully borne by ratepayers in that state.

https://www.theday.com/state/20231205/massachusetts-budget-approval-allows-utilities-to-recoup-added-cost-of-hydropower-corridor/

Now is the time to ask the state for a big investment in Norwich’s waterfront assets, city officials say, as they lobby for $11.7 million in state grants to make improvements from the harbor up the Yantic River. Hoping to ride the momentum of a new marina owner, city upgrades to the nearby waterfront park and a new Uncas Leap Heritage Park under construction on the Yantic River, city officials will now ask the state for $11.7 million to revitalize the city’s waterfront. The City Council Monday night agreed to submit a grant application seeking $11,715,769 from the state Community Investment Fund, created by Gov. Ned Lamont to assist distressed municipalities across the state with major projects. Brown said Norwich Public Utilities’ construction of a $200 million new sewage treatment plant that will greatly improve water quality and Norwich Harbor aesthetics adds a caveat to the city’s argument that this is the right time for the state to help Norwich with a big investment in its waterfront.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20231205/norwich-seeks-11-7-million-to-revitalize-waterfront/

As East Windsor continues its fight against a proposed solar farm by Verogy, the West Hartford-based developer has its sights set on Glastonbury for its latest project. The proposed Glastonbury Solar One project at 17 Wickham Road would be a 3-megawatt, alternating current (AC) system that would generate enough electricity to power 778 average homes for a year. Verogy co-founder and Director of Development Bryan Fitzgerald said that the project is estimated to cost between $8.5 million and $9 million. The Glastonbury project would offset the equivalent of 3,998 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, equal to the emissions from 449,824 gallons of gasoline consumed, Fitzgerald said. The project, if approved by the Connecticut Siting Council, would begin construction in spring 2024 with completion in the fall, according to the project website. If the project gets completed, according to the website, the remainder of the farmland could be used for other purposes.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-glastonbury-solar-farm-verogy-east-windsor-18531861.php

The 70-year-old auditorium at Veterans Park Elementary School is slated for $775,000 worth of repairs and upgrades as just one of the many projects in the Ridgefield Public Schools proposed $39 million five-year capital improvement plan. At a Board of Education meeting on Nov. 27, Morits presented the RPS capital improvement plan, which includes $19.9 million for renovations of the Ridgefield High School auditorium as well as acoustical improvements in schools, student and staff bathroom renovations and flexible seating arrangements for classrooms in the district’s nine schools. Aside from the high school auditorium, other items in the capital plan with high price tickets include districtwide network infrastructure upgrades and replacements budgeted at $991,000 and a districtwide ventilator replacement program budgeted at $1.5 million.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/ridgefield-schools-capital-plan-improvement-millio-18521909.php?src=nthpdesecp

Salvatore closed a deal this week to buy the former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduate campus at 275 Windsor St. for $3.82 million. The building’s property abuts Dunkin’ Park, home to the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats. Earlier this year Salvatore said he planned to build up to 269 apartments on the RPI property, which housed the New York-based university’s graduate programs in Hartford. Now Salvatore is moving full speed ahead on Parcel B, planning to break ground within 60 days to replace the parking lot with a structure housing 237 apartments and a 522-car parking garage, the $120 million first phase of a complex that could eventually house 1,000 units. At the same time, he intends to start demolishing the 1970s-era buildings at the RPI lot within 30 days. The only structure that will be left standing is a 450-spot parking garage, which would be part of any future development at the site. An initial estimate of the cost of the first phase of redeveloping the property was $67 million.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/hartford-ct-rpi-dunkin-park-salvatore-18526720.php

City officials have been planning to build a new police station for at least 25 years, but even one of the idea’s biggest supporters said it probably won’t happen anytime soon because “the price is shocking.” Updating the Police Commission on the situation during a Nov. 14 meeting, police Chief Keith Mello said the new station would cost $81 million. He revised his estimate to $77.5 million in a follow-up email on Tuesday. Either way, it’s funding that Mello doesn’t see going toward a new station in the foreseeable future. Mello’s $77.5 million estimate comes from a construction contractor that the city selected in 2018 to provide the original design development estimate. Additional design costs are possible. The drawings date to 2018. The city will probably continue to fit out the existing building.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/milford-police-chief-new-police-station-cost-18516138.php