Fuel cell power plant will out town on map officials say
BEACON FALLS >> Three Connecticut-based companies are joining forces to develop a 63.3-megawatt fuel cell power plant on a 24-acre site that once was a sand mine located west of the Naugatuck River. The plan announced Tuesday has been in discussions since November, said Christopher Bielik, Beacon Falls first selectman. If the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Connecticut Siting Council approve of the plan, Bielik said it then would go before the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
The project, which will be called the Beacon Falls Energy Park, has been proposed for a 24-acre site near Lopus Road that is owned by Torrington-based O&G Industries, a partner in the project and one of the Northeast’s largest construction companies. The other partners in the project are Danbury-based FuelCell Energy and CT Energy & Technology, a Middletown-based development company that develops energy projects which to help Connecticut’s goals for renewable energy.
Fuel cells convert chemical energy from hydrogen-rich fuels into electrical power and usable high quality heat in an electrochemical process that produces very little in the way of pollutants. Kurt Goddard, vice president of investor relations for FuelCell Energy, said in a best case scenario, construction on the project could start within a year. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Road work to begin in South Windsor
SOUTH WINDSOR - A six-week construction project on Nevers Road is set to begin Wednesday.
The work will begin the relocation of the water main on Nevers Road, from Mark Drive to the South Windsor High School driveway, according to a press release from police.
There are no planned road closures at this time, but Nevers Road will be down to one lane during the project with alternating traffic controlled by a flag person, police said.
Two separate crews will be working in the area from about 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes.
Ground-breaking ceremony in New Haven for Jordan's Furniture
NEW HAVEN >> Construction of Connecticut’s first Jordan’s Furniture has gotten underway in the city’s Long Wharf section, and city and company officials will make it official with a ground-breaking ceremony Wednesday. The 11 a.m. ceremony at 40 Sargent Drive, the former home of the New Haven Register, will include New Haven Mayor Toni Harp and Eliot Tatelman, president and chief executive officer of the Massacuhusetts-based chain. Heather Copelas, a spokeswoman, said the New Haven store is expected to open sometime this fall.
The construction of the store will employ 500 construction workers, Copelas said. When Jordan’s Furniture opens, it will employ more than 200 people, she said.
Construction fencing has surrounded the building for weeks now. But it wasn’t until last week that commuters along Interstate 95, which runs right past the 13-acre site, began to notice bulldozers digging up what used to be the parking lots that surrounded the building. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction spending in March rises from a year ago
Construction spending slipped in March from upwardly revised February totals but increased modestly from a year earlier, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned, however, that those spending gains could be at risk if Congress and the Obama administration fail to address highway funding shortfalls that threaten to undermine the sector’s recovery.
“The first quarter as a whole was positive for all major categories of construction despite a weak March for residential and public construction spending,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Current indications suggest private nonresidential construction and multifamily housing will continue to grow throughout the year. But funding for infrastructure is in jeopardy, which threatens to hold down public construction.”
Construction spending in March totaled $967 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 0.6 percent lower than the upwardly revised February figure but 2.0 percent higher than in March 2014, Simonson said. For the first three months of 2015 combined, spending exceeded the first-quarter 2014 total by 3.2 percent. Simonson added that weather-related anomalies in the first few months of the year, along with revisions to prior data, mean year-to-date comparisons for the full quarter are more revealing than figures for a single month. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE