Legislators renewed an effort in the current session to require reports on the impact of large data centers on local power grids, following a company’s proposal to build a large center next to the Millstone Power Station in Waterford. Rhode Island-based NE Edge proposes to build a pair of data centers totaling 1.2 million square feet on the Millstone property, a location that lets them buy power directly from the nuclear power plant and reducing the center’s energy costs. Requiring impact studies, state Rep. Nick Menapace, D-East Lyme, said Monday, is the first step to more effective legislation regulating the amount of energy and water large data centers consume. Menapace introduced the bill along with state Sen. Martha Marx, D-New London, and state Rep. Nick Gauthier, D-Waterford. Last year, a similar bill drafted in response to the Millstone plan failed to gain approval. Susan Adams, state policy director for Millstone, said Tuesday that there is continued interest in data centers.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/legislature-makes-another-effort-study-003500649.html

The budget to build a new Westhill High School has been reduced by $15 million, but school and local officials now need the state General Assembly to give the project the green light. Director of Operations Matthew Quinones said savings were found by reducing the size of the proposed building by roughly 10,000 gross square feet, among other adjustments. The plan to rebuild the city’s largest high school had previously received state approval in 2022 for an 80% reimbursement rate for eligible costs, meaning the city would be on the hook for the rest. The estimated budget at the time, however, was $301 million. That amount ballooned to $461 million by 2024, mostly due to inflation. The most recent estimate for the work — which would tear down the 1971 building and construct a brand new building — is $446 million. The figure was presented at a School Construction Planning Committee meeting on March 25. Assuming all goes well, the project could go out to bid between November and January of 2026, at which point the city will receive a “guaranteed maximum price,” which will need to be approved by both the Board of Finance and Board of Representatives.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-westhill-high-school-20244129.php

The West Hartford project is expected to “create a more efficient, pedestrian-friendly, and visually appealing environment,” according to the town. “The work will include roadway resurfacing, new granite curbing, widened concrete sidewalks, decorative street lighting, traffic signal modifications, landscaping with engineered tree pits, raised crosswalks, and site furniture/amenities.” Additionally, trees in poor condition will be replaced by native species using eco-friendly soil cell technology, and shrubbery will be planted to improve the cityscape, according to the town. Businesses will remain open through construction, according to a statement. The project is expected to maintain pedestrian access and keep traffic moving smoothly.

CT town begins ‘major infrastructure project’ in center. Here’s what to expect

The town’s harbor managers are welcoming a private developer’s $40 million dredging project to remove decades-old toxins from the Housatonic River —- but they want to know what comes next once the cleanup is complete. As part of a $100 million-plus plan to revitalize the historic former Stratford Army Engine Plant site, dredging will begin in May to remove 233,000 tons of PCB-contaminated sediment and restore tidal flats near the plant’s 550 Main St. site, developer Jim Cabrera of Point Stratford Renewal LLC said during a presentation at Baldwin Center on Monday. Point Stratford, a group of developers selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2012 to redevelop the 77-acre property, purchased the site for $1 last year. Raymond Frigon, director of the Remediation Division of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the restoration of the tidal flats, located on the former plant’s east and west bays, is “a massive undertaking.” Point Stratford is allowing the U.S. Department of Defense and the Army to use the plant site for remediation work and is helping the Army manage the project. Both selected Entact, an Illinois-based site-remediation specialist, through a competitive bidding process.

Major Cleanup at Stratford Army Plant Site Raises Questions About Future Use

Construction on the railroad bridge over Strawberry Hill Avenue in Norwalk is set to begin Saturday, closing a portion of the road until later this year, state Department of Transportation officials said. The bridge, which supports four tracks used by Metro-North Railroad and Amtrak trains, was built in 1890, and the improvement project is meant to reduce commuter travel times, according to the DOT. “The Strawberry Hill Avenue Railroad Bridge project replaces the existing bridge superstructure and updates the supporting structure underneath while maintaining the current vertical and horizontal clearances,” a news release from the DOT said. The construction will start with the demolition of the superstructure, according to the DOT, and work on the south side of the bridge is expected to start in 2026.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-ct-strawberry-hill-roads-closed-bridge-20238810.php

Just four weeks ago, Granby filed suit against the council for authorizing Key Capture Energy’s plan for a 5-megawatt battery energy storage facility not far from the Salmon Brook; the town contends the council didn’t give enough weight to evidence of environmental and safety hazards. So far, court appeals against the Siting Council have a poor record of success. The courts have mostly ruled upheld the council’s decisions, noting that state law deliberately designed it to make decisions in the best interest of all Connecticut power customers and utility users — with freedom from obeying preferences of neighbors or the local community. But state lawmakers have been looking for ways to give citizens and communities more of a voice in the decisions, and are focusing efforts this spring on Senate Bill 78. It would require the Siting Council to include a representative from the community where a proposed facility would be located; the mayor or first selectman would be responsible for appointing that person. The local representative wouldn’t get a vote, but could deliberate with the council’s voting members. Currently the council is made up of a representative from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, a designee from the state House speaker and another from the Senate president, and five public members appointed by the governor.

Big solar array in small CT town illustrates contention over Siting Council

Norwich Public Utilities is upgrading its natural gas infrastructure with a $20.9 million project, according to a community announcement. The initiative aims to replace over nine miles of aging cast iron gas mains with high-density polyethylene ones. NPU was awarded $10 million from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in 2023, followed by an additional $10.9 million in April 2024. These grants will accelerate 25 years of capital improvements into a five-year plan. Work for 2025 has started on Franklin Street and McKinley Avenue. Main installation will continue on these streets until early April, after which NPU will work along North Main Street and 4th Street. Once this phase is complete, crews will move to the area near Norwich Free Academy, including Rockwell and Crescent streets. This work is scheduled for the summer to minimize traffic disruptions.

https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/local/2025/03/27/norwich-public-utilities-ct-kicks-off-upgrade-of-natural-gas-infrastructure-roads-affected/82672351007/?tbref=hp

A $96 million cancer treatment center using novel proton technology to reduce damage to healthy tissue could begin construction on the city’s west side as soon as summer. A proton therapy center in Wallingford under a partnership between Hartford HealthCare and Yale New Haven Health broke ground in the summer with an opening planned for the end of 2026. That would make the Wallingford facility the only proton therapy center between New York and Boston. The Danbury proton center would open in 2027 to serve Fairfield County and nearby New York, according to the current plan. Among the conditions Danbury Proton agreed to with the state agency in January are that the center will “become credentialed as a Medicaid provider” and it will “commit at least 5% of net revenue to providing care for the uninsured and/or covering patients’ out-of-pockets.” Danbury Proton expects to create 100 jobs during construction and employ “32 full-time equivalent employees, including radiation oncologists, medical physicists, radiation therapists, medical support and administrative staff.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-danbury-proton-cancer-center-20246111.php

City Manager Brian Daniels proposed a $36 million capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2026 that falls nearly $1 million under the city’s spending cap and is $20 million less than the current year. The 2026 expenditure represents a $36 million commitment for capital improvement spending and calls for $4.5 million in net city costs when grants are factored. The cap is 2.5% of the prior year’s general fund revenue or $5,071,555. More than 70% of the costs cover seven projects over several years, Daniels said. The capital improvement budget contains the funds allocated for all capital projects in a given year. Of the $36 million, $5.8 million will go toward continuing the West Main Street bridge replacements, $5.4 million for almost a mile of a critical sewer main replacement, $4.4 million of annual road resurfacing, $3 million to replace a Carpenter Avenue water storage tank cover, $2.9 million for required lead service line inventory, $2.4 million to replace a ladder truck within 3 to 4 years and $2 million to finish the Edison Middle School roof.

https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/capital-improvements-meriden-2025-20226047.php

The former Briarwood College property may soon be transformed into a new senior development if the zone change is approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The project will have 150 age-restricted housing units spread out among seven buildings on site at 2279 Mount Vernon Road. The mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments will range between 350 and 1,000 square feet, Severino Bovino, an engineer and vice president of Southington-based Kratzert, Jones & Associates Inc. said at the recent meeting. Once the zone change is approved PGX will return before the PZC for a site plan review/approval. And go before the Southington Zoning Board of Appeals as well to get a variance that will allow for part of the facility to be used as rented space.

https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/ct-briarwood-lincoln-college-senior-housing-20228540.php