Competitive Power Ventures and GE Achieve Commercial Operation at 805-MW CPV Towantic Energy Center Connecticut
Silver Spring, Maryland — June 14, 2018 — Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) and its partners including GE Energy Financial Services (GE EFS) today announced that the 805-megawatt (MW) CPV Towantic Energy Center in Oxford, CT achieved commercial operation and is now supplying electricity to power more than 800,000 homes and businesses. The project, managed by Competitive Power Ventures, Inc., was constructed by Gemma Power Systems, LLC and is being operated by NAES Corporation.
“The Towantic project is a positive for our state and our region,” said Governor of Connecticut, Dan Malloy. “From the hundreds of construction jobs created, to the potential for economic development in adjacent lots, to 805 megawatts of new electricity, I am pleased to see the plant come to fruition.”
“Our CPV Towantic Energy Center is one of the most efficient and environmentally responsible electric generators in the world today,” said CPV CEO Gary Lambert. “Achieving commercial operation means that we will improve the reliability of the regional electric system, reduce energy cost and continue the modernization of North America’s power grid.”
CPV is dedicated to increasing America’s energy sustainability by providing safe, reliable, cost effective and environmentally responsible power generation. The CPV Towantic Energy Center is a state-of-the-art natural gas-fired electric power generating facility using the GE 7HA-based power train in a combined-cycle configuration. GE’s 7HA technology is among the most efficient in the world at 63 percent and will contribute to regional air quality improvements by replacing older, less efficient power generation.
“Our leading technology across the full range of generation, transmission, and distribution solutions helps utilities and power producers to thrive in a changing energy landscape while delivering safe, reliable, and affordable electricity to their customers and communities,” said Russell Stokes, President and CEO of GE Power. “An important piece of that portfolio is our record-setting HA gas turbine technology that is providing the CPV Towantic Energy Center flexible, efficient, and reliable electricity to sustainably power our future.”
“We are proud to partner with CPV in the development and delivery of this reliable and cost-effective power facility in New England using GE’s state-of-the-art technology,” said Timothy Howell, Managing Director of Power & Development, GE Energy Financial Services.
CPV strategically identifies new locations for building power generation facilities based on a careful review of electric supply and demand and our ability to help mitigate future price spikes for ratepayers.
The CPV Towantic Energy Center sells its capacity, energy and ancillary services into the ISO New England market. The site’s proximity to natural gas from the Algonquin Interstate Pipeline and the Connecticut Light & Power 115kV circuit between Baldwin Junction and Beacon Falls will ensure reliable, locally generated power for years to come.
“The Power Plant has been a strong contributor to the Town of Oxford’s prosperity and has proven to be a good neighbor,” said Oxford First Selectman George Temple.
The newly operating facility will provide substantial economic benefits to residents and area businesses. The CPV Towantic Energy Center entered into a long-term, multimillion dollar financial agreement over several decades to help support the town of Oxford and regional economic development. Job creation includes during construction involved upwards of 900 union workers and management staff during the project’s construction phase and now employs 22 skilled operating professionals in well-paying, full-time jobs.
President of the Greater Waterbury Building Trades, Nate Brown (Operating Engineers, 478), said, “Competitive Power Ventures has been a great partner from the time they first came to us, through completion. This project has provided important jobs to our members and will be a long-term economic boost to the region.”
Construction will begin soon on River Highlands clubhouse
CROMWELL – It won’t be long after the final putt is sunk to conclude this year’s Travelers Championship that orange will become part of the landscape around the TPC River Highlands.
Orange as in “watch where you step.”
A new 40,000-square-foot clubhouse, more than double the size of the existing one, will be built at the golf course. And since it must be completed before the 2019 tournament next June, there will be no delay in starting the work.
“You’re going to see a fence perimeter up the day after the tournament and demo work will probably begin within a week,” said tournament director Nathan Grube.
The existing clubhouse, parts of which date 30 years to when it was a public course named Edgewood, has 15,000 square feet and is considered small by PGA Tour standards.
It will be demolished and replaced by the new clubhouse, which will have bigger locker rooms, an event room large enough to host fundraisers, an expanded players’ dining area, a bigger pro shop and store open to the public.
The footprint of the clubhouse will grow in the rear of the existing building, where several temporary structures are now erected for tournament week.
There will also be a large lawn area behind the clubhouse where events can be held.
“It’s going to give us some new opportunities,” Grube said. “Where we were tight on space, we’ll have lots of space. It’s exciting. We’ll have a new inventory we’ll be able to offer to our fans, and that should allow us to raise even more money for charity.”
The clubhouse continues a series of investments that already include construction of a state-of-the-art practice facility in 2008 and a $3.5 million upgrade of the course in 2015 that rebuilt the bunkers, irrigation and some greens and viewing areas.
All of this work resulted from discussions between Travelers and the PGA Tour, which owns the course, when the insurance giant made a commitment to be title sponsor of the tournament through 2024.
The price tag for the new clubhouse has not been divulged. “The PGA Tour is funding most of it. We’re working with them,” Grube said.
Building a clubhouse of this size is a giant undertaking, which is why it’s essential that work gets underway as soon as possible.
“It has to be done before the tournament next June,” Grube noted.
Old Greenwich slated for more construction work
GREENWICH — More construction work is slated to begin in Old Greenwich to improve drainage, likely creating more disruption and headaches for residents and merchants in the area.
The town Department of Public Works will begin installation of a drainage system within Sound Beach Avenue starting on or about July 9. The construction route will go between the Metro North Railroad Bridge to the Sound Beach Avenue Fire Station, which means it will go past where the majority of the local businesses are.
Work to install new storm drain pipes beneath the roadway is slated to take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is expected to last six to eight weeks.
Materials and equipment will begin to arrive on June 25 and be kept in a fenced-in staging area.
“The main intent is to replace aging pipes and upgrade the drainage pipe network to handle larger flows in this area and reduce the likelihood of flooding,” said Town Deputy Commissioner of Public Works James Michel.
The work is part of the ongoing drainage improvements in Old Greenwich but this phase will be handled by a different contractor in an attempt to expedite the work.
The construction will mainly occupy the center of Sound Beach Avenue meaning northbound and southbound traffic will have to be shifted to the existing parking areas. Because of that change, parking on Sound Beach Avenue will be limited during the duration of the work and daily lane closures may occur.The town will install temporary traffic control devices to protect motorists and pedestrians.
For local businesses in Old Greenwich, the project is another in a long series that has included ongoing work on the railroad bridge and other drainage improvements, including ongoing work on Park Avenue.
“This could end up being a disaster,” Richard Fulton, head of the Old Greenwich Merchants Association, said on Monday. “People are very concerned and we’re sort of battle-weary from all of this. There’s too many different projects with too many different entities and contractors for this to be coordinated.”
Fulton said he agrees the projects are necessary, but he wishes they were better coordinated to not put too much of a burden on Sound Beach Avenu“It’s long overdue and it’s going to look awesome when it’s done but Park Avenue looks like a war zone right now,” Fulton said.
The work comes during a busy season for the main business district of Old Greenwich. The Old Greenwich Sidewalk Sales are set for June 28 through June 30.
Additionally, the town’s fireworks displays are scheduled for July 7 with a rain date of July 8. The fireworks, as always, will take place at Binney Park and Greenwich Point, both of which are in Old Greenwich.DPW officials have said there will be no work or material deliveries during those times.
Michel said July and August were picked for the work because school would be out and people are on vacation, creating lower traffic volume. In addition to the drainage work, Michel said the town would need to replace bridges on Sound Beach Avenue and Wesskum Wood Road in the next few years to avoid having to close those roads.
A proposal to replace the Sound Beach Avenue bridge and replace the traffic circle by Perrot Memorial Library with a more traditional roundabout was vehemently opposed by the public and did not get Planning and Zoning Commission support in May.
Greenwich is over 375 years old and much of its infrastructure is aging and in need of upgrading, repair or replacement,” Michel said. “The town is actively trying to keep up with maintenance of this infrastructure but there is an inconvenience to this work. We appreciate the public’s patience during these projects.”
The town has warned that the construction schedule is dependent on the weather and other factors and unforeseen complications so the work, particularly with the road restoration, could go beyond the six-to-eight-week estimate.
Michel said the town had let residents know about the heavy construction schedule in 2012, before work on the Metro-North bridge began.
“At that time, the feedback received was that the neighborhood would prefer a five-year period of more intense construction, with two to five projects concurrently underway, rather than a 10-15-year duration with one project a year,” Michel said. “Therefore DPW proceeded with doing a significant number of sidewalk and curb replacements, the drainage projects, the Binney Park dredging, at the same time as the (railroad bridge) project. DPW hopes that by the end of the summer of 2019 the majority of the work in the commercial section will be completed.”
Fulton said he hoped the contractor would at least be able to coordinate with the MTA during its bridge work to make sure road closures don’t happen while the projects are conducted simultaneously.
Seven feet beneath Norwalk River, a leaking water main
NORWALK — South Norwalk Electric and Water closed down the front parking lot of Liberty Square on Monday night to repair a damaged water main beneath the nearby Norwalk River.
“We’re replacing it with a new water main that’s actually slid inside the old one,” said Alan Huth, SNEW’s director of water operations. “This was all planned around Monday because two of the businesses were closed, including the one on the corner, and we chose to do this after 10 o’clock just to be courteous to the residents and the businesses.”Huth said SNEW’s existing cast-iron water main, which was installed in 1963 and is located about seven feet beneath the riverbed, between the Stroffolino and Walk bridges, sprung a leak in February. SNEW spent several months studying how to best repair the damaged main and determined that slip-lining 800 feet of plastic pipe within the existing cast-iron main made the most sense.
On Monday, crews with John J. Brennan Construction joined sections of the new lining at a work site on the west end of the Liberty Square parking lot in preparation of installing it overnight. If all goes according to plan, the estimated $100,000 repair project will wrap up in about a week, Huth said.
(On Tuesday evening, as part of its broader operations, SNEW will hold public hearings on a 5 percent increase applicable to all water charges as part of the public utility company’s approved budget. The hearings are scheduled for Tuesday, June 19, and Tuesday, July 17, both at 7 p.m. at SNEW’s offices at 1 State St.)
SNEW placed notices in the windows of Liberty Square businesses, alerting merchants, customers and tenants of the overnight work Monday and telling them not to park in the front lot after 8 p.m.
Alongside the notice in the window of Restaurante El Quetzal at 201 Liberty Square stood another notice, written in Spanish, informing customers that the restaurant would close at 6:30 p.m. rather than the usual 9 or 10 p.m.
“We don’t have any other place we can park. That’s why we’re going to close,” said Esli Contreras, co-owner of the restaurant.The SNEW project, which is slated to close the front parking lot for one night, is relatively minor against other disruptions impacting Liberty Square. The Connecticut Department of Transportation has taken several Goldstein Place properties behind the square to create staging space for the upcoming replacement of the Walk Bridge over the Norwalk River.
A.J. Penna & Son Excavating Contractors has been relocated to the old National Guard Armory on New Canaan Avenue. Maritime Rowing Club, which also was located off Goldstein Place, is temporarily operating from Norwalk River Rowing Club on Moody’s Lane and plans to permanently relocate to 1 Jennings Place this fall.On Monday, demolition notices stood posted on construction fencing outside the houses at 1, 3 and 5 Goldstein Place in advance of their imminent demolition to accommodate the Walk Bridge project.
The DOT plans to begin replacing the 122-year-old swing-span railroad bridge with a 240-foot, vertical-lift structure, starting in late 2019. Tree trimming and track-and-signal upgrades are already underway on both sides of the bridge. The estimated $1 billion project is expected to take several years to complete, and Liberty Square property owners have expressed concern about the upcoming disruptions to merchants and residentsContreras, however, sees the bridge-replacement project as an opportunity for his business.“I think it’s going to be good because I know many people are going to work,” said Contreras, referring to construction workers engaged in the bridge replacement. “Maybe they’re going to come to eat.”
As the DOT increases its presence behind Liberty Square, the Norwalk Parking Authority is preparing to repave the parking lot and add landscaping after having taken on the lot and maintenance responsibilities for it. But those improvements will have to wait until later this year.
“That’s not happening anytime soon,” said Kathryn Hebert, parking authority director. “We’re coordinating with the Walk Bridge people on Goldstein Place because there are some improvements they’re about to make related to drainage, which is actually a good thing for the parking lot.”
Hebert said the parking authority will pave, stripe and spruce up the parking lot with landscaping this fall, after the drainage improvements are done.
CT Water, SJW merger continues after solicitation attempt
Connecticut Water Service Inc. is sticking with its $750 million merger agreement with California's SJW Group after the Clinton-based water utility says it was unable to lure new bidders.
Connecticut Water announced Monday it did not receive an alternate acquisition bid after inviting new offers earlier this month. The bidding process ended June 13.
The water utility did not receive an offer sheet after gauging interest from 50-plus companies, including 20 water and regulated utilities and over 30 financial sponsors, Connecticut Water said.
Connecticut Water invited Eversource Energy to the bidding table after denying the utility's unsolicited April 5 bid of $63.50 per share.
Eversource, which purchased Bridgeport-based Aquarion Water Co. last year for $1.68 billion, declined the opportunity to rebid and said Connecticut Water's "severely limited" process "fails to reflect a sincere intention" to seek new offers.
Meantime, SJW Group affirmed its commitment to the merger with Connecticut Water, despite receiving its own merger offer from California Water Service Group of San Jose.
Carol Wallace, chairman of Connecticut Water's board of directors, said Monday the water utility will seek approval from its shareholders and regulators to move forward its deal with SJW Group.
"We believe the completion of this … process should enable all of our shareholders to have confidence that the SJW Group merger maximizes the value of their investment," Wallace said.
Under the "merger of equals," Connecticut Water shareholders would own approximately 40 percent of the combined company and SJW would own the remaining 60 percent. The deal is worth $64.72 per share -- based on SJW Group's closing share price as of April 25.
This Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Has Big Plans For Transportation. But Will They Work?
David Stemerman has an ambitious plan to get Connecticut moving. The Republican candidate for governor released a 16-page proposal this week to address gridlock on the roads, make airports more appealing and bring new efficiencies to an aging commuter rail system.
“Our transportation infrastruMany experts say highway congestion and a lack of investment in mass transit are hampering the state’s economic growth and there is no designated source of money for major improvements.cture is not getting the job done,’’ Stemerman said. “It was built decades ago and it’s overwhelmed.”
Like the other Republican candidates, Stemerman rejects electronic tolls as a way to fund much-needed road repairs. Instead, his prescription for much of what ails the state’s transportation network boils down to two words: efficiency and privatization.
“Let’s be honest, government is not the best at delivering services,’’ the plan states. “Best practices all over the world, and increasingly in the United States, is for private business to build and operate major transportation improvements and services.”
Will it work in Connecticut? Some experts are skeptical.
Planes
Stemerman is proposing “unleashing the power of the private sector” to turn Bradley International Airport into a thriving hub.
“Airport privatization and expansion projects are almost always self-financing by the private company that operates them through a combination of landing fees, passenger facility charges and revenues generated by services at the airport,’’ the plan states.
That sounds good in theory, but the reality is more complex. “Bradley would be perfect candidate for privatization but that’s going to require the approval of the airlines and they prefer the bird in hand to the unknowns of a private operator,’’ said Emil Frankel, the transportation commissioner under Gov. Lowell P. Weicker and a senior fellow at the Eno Center for Transportation, a Washington-based policy institute.
The federal government places restrictions on airport privatization; the only U.S. airport currently run by a private entity is Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, under a Federal Aviation Administration pilot program.
Stemerman holds up Europe as a model but the comparison is flawed, Frankel said. Unlike countries in Europe, U.S. airports can issue revenue bonds on a tax-exempt basis, a strong incentive against using private capital. Moreover, he said, many aspects of U.S. airports are already handled by the private sector through contracts, such as food concessions, janitorial services and parking.
“Generally airports in the U.S. are pretty well-run entities,’’ said Paul Lewis, vice president of policy at the Eno Institute. “They have robust revenue streams and even some of the airports that are struggling aren’t struggling because of poor management.’’
Trains
Stemerman is proposing a sharp decrease in the amount of time it takes to travel between Connecticut and Grand Central Terminal in New York City. He envisions a 30-minute ride to Stamford, down from the current 60 minutes, and a 60-minute trip to New Haven, almost half of the current travel time.
Stemerman’s plan does not delve into the specifics of how he would achieve these new efficiencies. But he is once again calling calling for a private firm to partner with the state. “We own all four tracks in Connecticut, so we have freedom to upgrade bridges, straighten tracks, improve electrification and make major improvements to scheduling,” the plan states. “Achieving these improvements will require us to find the best private partners on the planet and will take time to complete. It will be well worth our time and effort.’’Automobiles
Stemerman and his Republican primary opponents — Mark Boughton, Tim Herbst, Steve Obsitnik and Bob Stefanowski — all reject electronic tolls. Stemerman’s plan once again calls for private investment in roads and bridges. Ned Lamont, the endorsed Democrat running for governor, supports tolls as a way to fund transportation projects.
“We can … reduce the cost and disruption from fixing and maintaining our roads and bridges using private partnerships,’’ the plan states.
But Lewis of the Eno Center for Transportation said such partnerships are virtually impossible without tolls. “If you’re privatizing roadway assets, there has to be tolls,’’ he said. “There’s no reason a private company wants to come in and operate an asset for free.”
Stemerman’s plan cites the I-4 Ultimate project in central Florida as a model for Connecticut. The $2.3 billion highway overhaul in Orange and Seminole counties is being constructed by a public-private partnership and contains express lanes where tolls will be assessed. The cost of the tolled lanes will be subject to “dynamic pricing.” Under that scheme, tolls are set based on the level of congestion in adjacent lanes where no tolls are charged.
In addition, Stemerman’s proposal calls for new effort focused on making the permitting process more efficient. Dubbed StreamlineCT, the initiative would weed out cumbersome regulatory functions when possible, he said.
And, Stemerman said, capacity on congested highways could be reduced by adding more lanes and exercising rights of way.