State fund for transportation, on track to fail in 2024, will be focus of General Assembly
Ken Dixon Nearly a year after his attempt to bring trucks-only highway tolls crashed and burned in the General Assembly, Gov. Ned Lamont is still trying to figure out how to otherwise fund sorely needed transportation infrastructure projects.
A lot depends on the Biden administration and the willingness of Lamont’s fellow Democrats who control the state House and Senate.
A partial answer could be the state’s recent agreement to join a regional transportation-and-climate pact, which needs the approval of the general assembly, but could bring in about $90 million to $117 million a year between 2023 and 2032, as the state attempts to reduce vehicular carbon emissions to improve public health and battle climate change.
Lamont’s budget staff in the Office of Policy and Management recently reported that the state’s Special Transportation Fund (STF) will end the fiscal year on June 30 with only about $108 million, down from $320 million on July 1, 2019 and just a fraction of the hundreds of millions needed to fund the major infrastructure projects Lamont wants.
The STF is on track to go broke in 2024, due to lower gasoline taxes that feed the fund, less driving in the pandemic and the increase in electric cars. ALMOST ENTIRELY DUE TO RISING DEBT!!!!!!
Speaking to reporters recently, the usually upbeat governor revealed some bitterness a year after majority Democrats failed to back trucks-only highway tolls.
“They weren’t just afraid to go for tolls, they were afraid to go for even their own plan and that was what was frustrating for me,” said Lamont, who spent most of 2020 running state government and the response to the coronavirus pandemic, by himself, under emergency authority.
“You’re hired to make up your mind,” Lamont said. “Here’s a problem, let’s find a way to solve it.” Lamont called the regional Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI), which Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. joined with Connecticut this week and which other states in the regional are supporting, if not yet joining, is one of several things the state needs to fund transportation projects.
“I’ve got to take this to the legislature, talk to [the] Transportation [Committee], talk to leadership on both sides of the aisle,” Lamont said. “It doesn’t solve world peace, it doesn’t fix our transportation fund, but it’s a start. It’s a start that also has a clean environmental component to it and it doesn’t put us at a competitive disadvantage with our neighbors, so I’d like to think it’s something they’ll consider. This is one partial solution for the hole in our transportation fund, which we’ve been trying to focus on for a while.”
Lamont noted the instant opposition recently from Republican lawmakers who charged that it would hike retail prices for gasoline.
“There are some politicians who think what pro-business and any business is what lobbyists tell them, but I think people in the business community know this is an important initiative and we can have real economic activity coming from it,” Lamont said.
Last week, a day after the TCI agreement was announced, prompting gasoline retailers and conservative politicians to predict five-cent to 17-cent per-gallon price hikes in motor fuels, Katie Dykes, the commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, stressed that retail prices of gasoline regularly swing by five cents or more per gallon.
Connecticut’s spot on the eastern seaboard, with all the pollution of the nation sweeping from the west, make the state “the tailpipe of the nation,” Dykes said.
While the biennial budget-setting session starts on Jan. 6, Lamont has until mid-February to propose a new tax-and-spend package. He said a lot will depend on what President Joe Biden can persuade Congress to do, with or without Democratic control of the U.S. Senate.
“I think it’s a little early,” Lamont said in response to a question on how he will stanch the bleeding in the transportation fund. “But the budget is coming into clarity as the federal government figures a little more of what they are going to do and what support they are going to offer. They are going to be providing funding for transportation, they are going to be providing funding for education, they are going to be providing some funding for vaccinations and testing. That all will impact our final budget priorities that we’ll probably start laying out in the new year.”
State Sen. Carlo Leone, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Transportation Committee, said Monday that he hasn’t yet spoken to other leaders and the governor. But he stressed the need for the regional transportation initiative to invest any revenue into the rapidly dwindling STF.
“The issue is real, and there are real risks that projects will be canceled, let alone started,” Leone said. “And transportation is really the key to the economy.”
Lori Brown, executive director of the League of Conservation Voters, said the climate initiative is a way to help clean the air, curb transit-related emissions that impact cities like New Haven and Bridgeport, with major travel corridors and high instances of asthma and other respiratory ailments.
“It can be customized to fit our state and will provide critical funding to invest in our ailing transportation infrastructure which is directly linked to jobs and our economic future,” Brown said.
Ashley Zane, government affairs associate for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said Monday, said the organization will remain supportive of a bipartisan approach to ensure the stability of the STF, starting with money that has in the past been diverted to the General Fund but should have remained in the STF.
“We would be supportive of a plan that includes responsible bonding and general fund transfers, as well as creating a plan to prioritize projects to prevent these projects from sitting on dockets or being delayed, which only adds to the cost,” Zane said, adding that the CBIA is currently member gauging support for TCI.
“The plan is pretty divisive among our membership with some supporting it and others concerned about the increased cost of doing business,” Zane said. “One of the aspects that's concerning for our membership is the increased cost of fuel, which has yet to be given an actual amount and in various reports, ranges from 5 to 38 cents.”
But Joe DeLong, executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents cities and towns in the State Capitol, said Monday that the organization is working on a wide-ranging, holistic approach to the needs of the state, including transportation.
“The reality is Connecticut’s challenges are not going to be fixed in a piecemeal process,” DeLong said in a phone interview, stressing that the Special Transportation Fund is just as important as the Educational Cost Sharing formula used to support public schools. “What bothers me is that no one want to approach these things from a comprehensive standpoint.”
DeLong said that the CCM report, expected in late February or early March, will propose better approaches to regionalizing shared services and supporting revenue diversification. For that, lawmakers will have to come together and compromise in “a grand bargain.”
For that, the traditional political divide, between lawmakers who want to cut spending and services and those who want to raise taxes on the wealthiest residents will have to be bridged.
“To be frank, I haven’t see that type of holistic leadership approach to these issues,” DeLong said. “I tend to believe there’s something in the middle there. The government has to be fiscally responsible and sustainable, and right now we are not.”
Connecticut benefits from project labor agreements
CT Viewpoints Keith Brothers The Connecticut Department of Transportation has continued to benefit from the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLA), a commonly used procurement method in the state.
Former Gov. Dannel Malloy directed the DOT to utilize a PLA for the I-84 Mixmaster project in Waterbury, which broke ground in June of 2018. This is a very large and complex project valued at over $330 million. And while the project is slated to complete in September of 2022, it has already garnered national recognition.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials gave the project the 2019 Operations Excellence Award in the Large Project category. They praised the project, offering that, “the operation and coordination on this project resulted in minimal delays and disruption to travelers by limiting the number of closures on I-84 – closing only at night – while reducing the roadway width during peak hours to help ensure the traveling public could travel throughout the project, all while completing construction a year ahead of schedule.”
Given the success of the Mixmaster, it is no surprise that DOT is planning to utilize a PLA on the Gold Star north-bound bridge project between New London and Groton. DOT is making a common-sense and fiscally sound decision to include a PLA in the contract for construction. It’s a win-win for the state.
Under a PLA, all contractors are required to abide by collective bargaining agreements to meet the needs of a specific project. Those agreements dictate wages and benefits, like health insurance and retirement plans. Other important aspects might include provisions for utilizing apprentices, local hiring goals, set-aside goals for Black and brown and women-owned businesses, and a commitment to utilize returning veterans through programs like “Helmets to Hardhats.” In short, PLAs ensure public and private owners can guarantee their tradesmen and tradeswomen are given career opportunities and not just a short-term job.
I was surprised by the Yankee Institute’s blog post from December 17 criticizing DOT for deciding to construct the north-bound Gold Star bridge with a PLA. They seemingly only included quotes from non-union management and never reached out to me or any other representative of the State Building Trades Council. It’s important to note that the Building Trades represent over 30,000 construction families in Connecticut. I very much doubt the Yankee Institute has a clear understanding what a PLA is or how the terms of one are negotiated.
The Yankee Institute’s blog post takes particular issue with DOT’s claim that a PLA provides for a safer work site. Yet, the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) issued a report in 2018 titled, ‘Union Effect on Safety Management and Safety Culture in the Construction Industry,’ which found that, “The results indicate that union firms reported better performance of safety management and safety culture than non-union firms… Moreover, union firms were more likely and frequently to offer and require general safety and health training, and OSHA 10-hour and 30-hour training to their employees.”
In their blog post, the Yankee Institute referenced an erroneous study published by another political think tank called the Beacon Hill Institute (BHI). The Boston Globe published an article on December 1, 2015 titled, ‘Suffolk University cuts ties with conservative research group’, which reported that BHI, “receives funding from private groups, including the conservative Koch Foundation…”
Opponents, like the Yankee Institute, use the old and tired argument that PLAs raise the cost of construction. Yet academic studies by UCLA, Cornell, and other leading institutions have consistently concluded that there is simply no evidence to back up this claim. UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education published a study in 2017 which found that PLA projects do not reduce the number of bidders, nor do they increase project costs.
If PLAs raised the cost of construction, then profit-oriented corporations wouldn’t consistently use them. General Dynamics Electric Boat signed a PLA for the $850 million expansion of their South Yard Assembly Building in Groton. The Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) built the $225 million Renewable Energy Power Plant in Plainfield using a PLA. The Mohegan Tribe signed a PLA to build their $80 million government center, and Ørsted signed a significant PLA for building their offshore wind turbines along the East Coast.
DOT is not the only public contracting authority to see a value in PLAs. The University of Connecticut, the Department of Administrative Services (DAS), and municipalities from every corner of the state have used PLAs for their large-scale construction.
While I welcome vigorous debates on how best to attract good-paying jobs to Connecticut, I expect those with opposing views to be honest brokers. The naysayers are grasping at straws, trying to undermine the use of a common and beneficial procurement method that protects the integrity of our state’s construction industry.
Let’s keep to the facts. PLAs are a tool to ensure the hiring of Connecticut’s workforce, and that our local workforce has good labor protections for them and their families. We applaud the state for continuing to recognize their value.
Keith Brothers is the Business Manager of the CT Laborers District Council and President of the Norwich-New London Building Trades Council.
Veteran Stamford senator will take job with Lamont administration
Ken Dixon Newly reelected Sen. Carlo Leone of Stamford will not take the oath of office next week and instead will join Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration as a special adviser to state Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti.
Leone, an Air Force veteran who first served in the House for more than three terms before joining the Senate after a special election in 2011, said Thursday night that he is eager to start a new chapter in public service.
“An opportunity has presented itself to join the administration,” said Leone, 57, a Democrat who in recent years has been the co-chairman of the Transportation Committee. “I’ll miss the legislature, which has given me a lot of rewarding, great experiences, but I’m looking forward to a new chapter.”
Leone was a solid supporter of Lamont’s plan for trucks-only tolls on state highways, a plan that the governor withdrew last February amid bipartisan opposition in the General Assembly. In a phone interview, he said that with the state’s dedicated fund for transportation infrastructure scheduled to go broke by 2024, keeping it afloat at a time of diminishing gas taxes and the rise of electric cars, is a major challenge.
With Democrat Joe Biden scheduled to take the oath of the presidency on Jan. 20, the Lamont administration expects much more direct communication with Washington. As special assistant, Leone will troubleshoot issues for Giulietti and will likely lean on his relationships with other state lawmakers.
“There is still a lot to accomplish,” said Leone, who was born in Italy. “We still have to get money into transportation. It’ll be kind of weird to be on the other side, but we still have the needs. Serving in the legislature and being a senator from Stamford has been an honor.”
While it may be too soon to figure out who might seek to replace Leone, who crushed Republican Eva Maldonado in the November election, fellow state lawmakers from Stamford delegation include Rep. Patricia Billie Miller, Rep. Dan Fox, Rep. David Michel, Rep. Caroline Simmons and Rep. Matt Blumenthal.
“I have a very strong delegation with great colleagues and any number of them could step in,” said Leone, who in addition to leading the Transportation Committee, is the vice chairman of the tax-writing Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee.
While in the General Assembly Leone helped revamp the mediation process in foreclosures; helped write legislation to offer tax credits to the film industry. Upon his return from six years in the military, Leone worked at Xerox Corp. for 17 years. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Sacred Heart University.
As permits for Killingly gas plant advance, environmentalists step up demands to pull the plug
Stephen Singer Developers are closing in on final permits to build a natural gas plant in Killingly, prompting environmentalists to ratchet up their criticism of Gov. Ned Lamont’s environmental policies and urge a halt to the project.
Activists say the urgency of climate change and reducing greenhouse gases require Lamont to bring consistency to his own policies that call for greater reliance on offshore wind and a drive to cut auto emissions along congested interstate corridors.
“It’s very upsetting, especially as a young person whose future is jeopardized by climate change and plants like these,” said Sena Wazer, a junior at UConn.
The Sierra Club, which is fighting the Killingly plant, said the governor “continues to tout his commitment to fighting the climate crisis while this contradictory expansion of gas remains the policy and practice of the state.”
A spokesman for Lamont did not respond to a request for comment.
In an emailed statement, a spokesman for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said its authority over the Killingly plant is to fulfill its obligations required by law, specifically through issuing permits.
The agency has issued an air discharge permit and a water quality certificate for impacts to wetlands. In addition, a public hearing solicited comments for a permit for sewer discharge.
State environmental officials also have temporarily determined that a 2.8-mile natural gas pipeline sought by Eversource Energy has “modest and largely temporary” impacts on wetlands and waterways. A final decision on a water quality certificate is expected after Jan. 21.
The Sierra Club says the pipeline “would tear through vital wetlands and streams, including a native brook trout stream.”
NTE Energy, the developer of the Killingly plant, says it will replace older units with higher emissions. Tim Eves, managing partner, said he hopes construction, which could last three years, will begin in early 2021.
“The pandemic has slowed everything down,” he said. “Face-to-face meetings are difficult and are causing some delays.”
Katie Dykes, commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, told lawmakers in August that energy markets regulated by grid operator ISO-New England to procure energy to meet demand are driving policy that resulted in the planned natural gas plant.
ISO’s capacity market “selected and moved that project forward. Not any procurement or contract or decision or selection decision coming out of the state of Connecticut,” she said.
A spokesman for ISO said states “control what is built.”
“In this case, it was the Connecticut DEEP and other agencies who approved the permits for the plant,” he said.
Master plan presents blueprint for the future of Ansonia Copper & Brass and the Valley
Michael P. Mayko ANSONIA — With some luck, $18 million and buy-in from new industries, the now-defunct Ansonia Copper and Brass site could spark a renaissance for the entire Valley.
That’s the optimistic view that local officials have in their sights, helped out by a new 200-page plan that predicts the 116-acre complex could become a manufacturing center again with thousands of jobs and the need for the amenities those workers would desire.
“This plan is the road map for revitalizing the area,” said Sheila O’Malley, Ansonia’s economic development director. The property “is the largest and one of the greatest assets Ansonia has.”
Years ago, Ansonia Copper and Brass, on a site that stretched from the Woodlot through Riverside Drive up to North Main and Liberty Street, was bustling with thousands of workers who produced much of the brass, copper and metal alloys used in the U.S.
But when the costs of foreign steel, copper, iron and brass plummeted, the company was sold. Production was scaled down, and employees were let go until the last furnaces were turned off in 2013.
The Meriden-based architectural and engineering firm DeCarlo and Doll and multi-national engineering firm AECOM created the North End Economic Recovery Municipal Development Plan which fills a three-ring binder and was paid for with a $200,000 Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization Planning grant.
If the site can be developed as presented, the plan estimates that at least 1,800 full and part-time permanent positions involving both light and heavy industry, office and clerical jobs would be created. Another 225 full and part-time construction-related jobs would be needed during construction.
“The available jobs match nicely with the skills of the area’s unemployed,” the plan states.
The document’s details are meticulous and its recommendations include finding state and federal funding, grants, tax incentives and abatements — and a public-private partnership.
“It would be beneficial if some of the development activities are done in partnership with a university, hospital or large-tech based company to enhance research and development,” the authors wrote.
Inside the plan is a comprehensive history of the city, its labor force and available housing. It provides maps, graphs and a conceptual site model for the complex. It details the hazardous waste remediation, pinpoints where construction can take place and suggests necessary improvements.
“We’ve already had an interested manufacturer come in,” O’Malley said. “They took a look at the plan and described it as ‘phenomenal.’ They said it tells them exactly where utilities are, where buildings can and can’t be constructed and what the costs are.”
Mayor David Cassetti said he believes the site’s rebirth could be accomplished starting with $18 million. U.S Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro have toured the site and pledged their support, Cassetti said.
“We will be directing all our resources, time and energy into accomplishing a rebuild of this property,” Cassetti said. “That will not only benefit Ansonia but the surrounding Valley communities.”
Help could come with the creation of a revitalization and redevelopment partnership with Derby and Seymour dubbed RADAR for “Revitalization And Redevelopment of Area-wide Resources.”
“It’s about prioritizing all our needs and addressing them under the umbrella of a redevelopment agency,” said Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini, who is drafting the proposal. “Such an agency will help with a more defined focus and direct attention on resources to the locations that matter the most for continuing future growth in the Valley.”
“The larger the pool of communities, the more opportunity for us and the Valley as a whole,” O’Malley added. “The agency will give us flexibility to move on various parcels and greater capacity to secure funding.”
Ansonia is in the process of completing a purchase and sale agreement that would give it ownership of the Ansonia Copper and Brass complex — which owes more than $200,000 in back taxes and WPCA fees.
Once that happens and funding flows in, the Development Plan predicts “the site can become a birthplace and home for emerging new industries and companies.”
The site as it stands today is not immediately usable: acre after acre of rusting hulks, broken asphalt and grassless dirt.
Officials predict it will take $8 million to $10 million to demolish at least six of the seven remaining Copper and Brass buildings. One, the 175,000 square foot extrusion center built in 1895 and last renovated in 1944, could be preserved.
“It’s a steel beam structure that is still fundamentally sound and could be renovated,” said O’Malley. She said she believes renovation money for the remaining building may be available through a Technical Assistance Grant.
The plan states that “an incubator type facility would be an important component of the development and may be appropriate” for the renovated building.
In July 2020, the state bonded $500,000 to begin the demolition of the former SHW Casting Co. located on the North Main Street end of the complex.
“Demolition would give us the blank canvas that developers can paint on,” said Cassetti.
Another necessary improvement is building a road from Riverside Drive through the tree- and brush-filled Woodlot and onto Wakelee Avenue near its intersection with Route 8 leading to Seymour.
“That construction will probably cost around $2 million,” O’Malley said.
The proposed road would require the acquisition of three single family homes at 544, 546 and 548 Wakelee Avenue as well as a right of way from Burns Construction and the use of city-owned property.
“That road is essential to any project,” Cassetti said. “It will take trucks off residential streets and lead them directly into the complex.”
Also needed would be $1 million to renovate the single lane bridge inside the complex crossing the Naugatuck River and providing an entrance and exit to and from the former Copper and Brass buildings.
Finally, the plan recommends that the current Ansonia Riverwalk be extended to connect to the Seymour Greenway. This would create an almost continuous walking route from downtown Shelton through Derby across Division Street to Ansonia and finally lead to Seymour. Derby’s Riverwalk ranks as one of the most used in the state.
As for the industrial use, the plan suggests both sides of the site which are bisected by the Naugatuck River “provide space for new, small and growing industries as well as advanced and conventional manufacturing with space for research and development technology-based services” as well as businesses that support those areas.
The former Ansonia Copper and Brass complex, which is on the east section of the site, can “accommodate a wide range of emerging industries,” the plan says. “These industries will be primarily technology based and supportive of the growth patterns of the Northeast.”
A section of Metro-North’s Waterbury line runs through the site routing passengers to Waterbury and Bridgeport. It also sends occasional freight trains through it.
The western side, which once housed Teledyne Manufacturing and now includes a number of small businesses, “should be zoned general industry to facilitate the development of an industrial park, permitting manufacturing, warehousing, research/development, distribution, offices and supporting uses,” the plan states.
“It’s the blueprint for the Valley’s future,” Cassetti said.
A Monster Wind Turbine Is Upending an Industry
Stanley Reed G.E.’s giant machine, which can light up a small town, is stoking a renewable-energy arms race.
Twirling above a strip of land at the mouth of Rotterdam’s harbor is a wind turbine so large it is difficult to photograph. The turning diameter of its rotor is longer than two American football fields end to end. Later models will be taller than any building on the mainland of Western Europe.
Packed with sensors gathering data on wind speeds, electricity output and stresses on its components, the giant whirling machine in the Netherlands is a test model for a new series of giant offshore wind turbines planned by General Electric. When assembled in arrays, the wind machines have the potential to power cities, supplanting the emissions-spewing coal- or natural gas-fired plants that form the backbones of many electric systems today.
G.E. has yet to install one of these machines in ocean water. As a relative newcomer to the offshore wind business, the company faces questions about how quickly and efficiently it can scale up production to build and install hundreds of the turbines.
But already the giant turbines have turned heads in the industry. A top executive at the world’s leading wind farm developer called it a “bit of a leapfrog over the latest technology.” And an analyst said the machine’s size and advance sales had “shaken the industry.”
The prototype is the first of a generation of new machines that are about a third more powerful than the largest already in commercial service. As such, it is changing the business calculations of wind equipment makers, developers and investors.
The G.E. machines will have a generating capacity that would have been almost unimaginable a decade ago. A single one will be able to turn out 13 megawatts of power, enough to light up a town of roughly 12,000 homes.
The turbine, which is capable of producing as much thrust as the four engines of a Boeing 747 jet, according to G.E., will be deployed at sea, where developers have learned that they can plant larger and more numerous turbines than on land to capture breezes that are stronger and more reliable.
The race to build bigger turbines has moved faster than many industry figures foresaw. G.E.’s Haliade-X generates almost 30 times more electricity than the first offshore machines installed off Denmark in 1991.
In coming years, customers are likely to demand even bigger machines, industry executives say. On the other hand, they predict that, just as commercial airliners peaked with the Airbus A380, turbines will reach a point where greater size no longer makes economic sense.
“We will also reach a plateau; we just don’t know where it is yet,” said Morten Pilgaard Rasmussen, chief technology officer of the offshore wind unit of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, the leading maker of offshore turbines.
Although offshore turbines now account for only about 5 percent of the generating capacity of the overall wind industry, this part of the business has taken on an identity of its own and is expected to grow faster in the coming years than land-based wind.
Offshore technology took hold in Northern Europe in the last three decades, and is now spreading to the East Coast of the United States as well as Asia, including Taiwan, China and South Korea. The big-ticket projects costing billions of dollars that are possible at sea are attracting large investors, including oil companies like BP and Royal Dutch Shell, that want to quickly enhance their green energy offerings. Capital investment in offshore wind has more than tripled over the last decade to $26 billion, according the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based forecasting group.
G.E. began making inroads in wind power in 2002 when it bought Enron’s land-based turbine business — a successful unit in a company brought down in a spectacular accounting scandal — at a bankruptcy auction. It was a marginal force in the offshore industry when its executives decided to try to crack it about four years ago. They saw a growing market with only a couple of serious Western competitors.
Still, G.E.’s bosses figured that to become a leader in the more challenging marine environment, they needed to be audacious. They proceeded to more than double the size of their existing offshore machine, which came to G.E. through its acquisition of the power business of France’s Alstom in 2015. The idea was to gain a lead on key competitors like Siemens Gamesa and Vestas Wind Systems, the Danish-based turbine maker.
A larger turbine produces more electricity and, thus, more revenue than a smaller machine. Size also helps reduce the costs of building and maintaining a wind farm because fewer turbines are required to produce a given amount of power.
These qualities create a powerful incentive for developers to go for the largest machine available to aid their efforts to win the auctions for offshore power supply deals that many countries have adopted. These auctions vary in format, but developers compete to provide power over a number of years for the lowest price.
“What they are looking for is a turbine that allows them to win these auctions,” said Vincent Schellings, who has headed design and production of the G.E. turbine. “That is where turbine size plays a very important role.”
Among the early customers is Orsted, a Danish company that is the world’s largest developer of offshore wind farms. It has a preliminary agreement to buy about 90 of the Haliade-X machines for a project called Ocean Wind off Atlantic City, N.J.
“I think they surprised everybody when they came out with that machine,” said David Hardy, chief executive of Orsted’s offshore business in North America.
As a huge buyer of turbines, Orsted wants to help “establish this new platform and create some volume for G.E.” so as to promote competition and innovation, Mr. Hardy said.
The G.E. turbine is selling better than its competitors may have expected, analysts say.
On Dec. 1, G.E. reached another preliminary agreement to provide turbines for Vineyard Wind, a large wind farm off Massachusetts, and it has deals to supply 276 turbines to what is likely to be the world’s largest wind farm at Dogger Bank off Britain.
These deals, with accompanying maintenance contracts, could add up to $13 billion, estimates Shashi Barla, principal wind analyst at Wood Mackenzie, a market research firm.
The waves made by the G.E. machine have pushed Siemens Gamesa to announce a series of competing turbines. Vestas, which until recently had the industry’s biggest machine in its stable, is also expected to unveil a new entry soon.
“We didn’t move as the first one, and that of course we have to address today,” said Henrik Andersen, the chief executive of Vestas.
To pull off its gambit, G.E. had to start “pretty much from scratch,” Mr. Schellings said. The business unit called G.E. Renewable Energy is spending about $400 million on design, hiring engineers and retooling factories at St. Nazaire and Cherbourg in France.
To make a blade of such extraordinary length that doesn’t buckle from its own weight, G.E. called on designers at LM Wind Power, a blade maker in Denmark that the company bought in 2016 for $1.7 billion. Among their innovations: a material combining carbon fiber and glass fiber that is lightweight yet strong and flexible.
G.E. still must work out how to manufacture large numbers of the machines efficiently, initially at the plants in France and, possibly later, in Britain and the United States. With a skimpy offshore track record, G.E. also needs to show that it can reliably install and maintain the big machines at sea, using specialized ships and dealing with rough weather.
“G.E. has to prove a lot to asset owners for them to procure G.E. turbines,” Mr. Barla said.
Bringing out bigger machines has been easier and cheaper for Siemens Gamesa, G.E.’s key rival, which is already building a prototype for a new and more powerful machine at its offshore complex at Brande on Denmark’s Jutland peninsula. The secret: The company’s ever larger new models have not strayed far from a decade-old template.
“The fundamentals of the machine and how it works remain the same,” said Mr. Rasmussen, the unit’s chief technology officer, leading to a “starting point that was a little better” than G.E.’s.
There seems to be plenty of room for competition. John Lavelle, the chief executive of G.E.’s offshore business, said the outlook for the market “gets bigger each year.”
Developer presents new draft plan for 931-unit, mixed-use development at Mystic Education Center
Erica Moser Groton — Following concerned and critical comments from several residents of Boulder Court and Hancock Drive at a special meeting of the Groton Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday night, developer Jeff Respler laid out his latest vision for Mystic River Bluffs, a luxury 931-unit, mixed-use development at the Mystic Education Center property, site of the former Mystic Oral School.
Jonathan Reiner, director of planning and development for the town, stressed that presentation of the draft master plan was "very preliminary" and there's no application yet.
He said the commission is working on regulations that will lay out a permitting path for an application, which would then be heard at a public hearing. Deb Jones, assistant director of planning and development, said the presentation was so the commission could visualize what might happen based on the regulations it's developing.
Respler first saw the 240 Oral School Road property in December 2016, and after the town issued a request for proposals in December 2017, he submitted a proposal. Respler Homes was selected as the preferred developer, with Respler saying it was because it "hit the needs of the community" and "handled a lot of problems with local labor."
Respler noted that most Electric Boat and Pfizer employees don't live in Groton, so the town misses out on the economic benefits of having workers live there. He also said people from EB and Pfizer have expressed that they struggle to recruit top talent because there's nowhere nearby that young workers — who seek amenities and entertainment — want to live.
Respler Homes announced conceptual plans in November 2019, and Respler said the team did public outreach from last December until the pandemic hit.
The number of planned units has since increased to 931 — including 798 in multifamily housing, 51 low-density townhouses, 72 garden-style flats, and 10 low-density duplexes. This includes 462 one-bedroom units, 408 two-bedroom units and 61 three-bedroom units.
The townhouses, which Respler said are to handle executive housing needs, are a new addition. They're situated on the 16.3-acre former Firgeleski property at 221 Oral School Road, which Respler purchased in September, town records show. That property extends to Cow Hill Road, allowing for a second entrance to the development.
That entrance would be the beginning of a road that loops around the property and connects with Oral School Road to north.
Respler said the new plan also has wider roads, with sidewalks and bike lanes on each side. The state has agreed to an easement that would create a trail to River Road.
Potential uses for the Oral School building include a market, restaurant, event space, day care and commercial space, and the plan calls for indoor recreation, available to the public, in the 44,645-foot Pratt Building.
The new plan has the public parking garage closer to the Pratt Building. Ray Kehrhahn, a member of the development team, said the topography change means the garage, with apartments planned on top, now sits lower.
Respler said the project will be done in phases, with a site plan per phase, and the first phase would have a minimum of 272 units and a maximum of 332.
Residents share concerns
Prior to Respler's presentation, based on the drawings and information in the agenda packet for the meeting, Boulder Court resident Scott Westervelt said the project "has morphed into something so much larger than it started." He referenced the parking garage, a high-rise with four floors for parking and four for residences, and a five-story building.
Regarding the new perimeter road, Westervelt asked about considerations for runoff and about how the road impacts a buffer for Boulder Court residents.
Matthew Richardson, also of Boulder Court, said he hasn't heard back regarding questions on environmental and traffic impacts, inquired about how much blasting will be needed and asked to see the study showing there would be enough people who wanted to live there in the planned price range.
Harold Robb of Hancock Drive said he didn't think two roads could take all of the traffic coming in and out, if many cars with EB and Pfizer workers are leaving around the same time, and also voiced concern about building heights.
Respler noted he doesn't have accurate information on building heights yet, saying the pictures are representative but not 100% accurate. Kehrhahn said the parking garage would be a little taller than the Pratt Building, which is about 40 feet.
Mystic resident Mike Whitney asked how many school-aged children will be living in the development, saying it "would be well-advised to have estimates early so the school system could plan ahead," and asked if the existing landmark cupola could still be seen from the Mystic River when the project is complete.
He and Hancock Drive resident Penelope Miller asked about the existing RU-20 zoning, which "is designed to encourage one- and two-unit dwellings in more traditional suburban settings," according to the town's zoning website. Whitney said any proposed changes should be scrutinized and strongly justified, while Miller "strenuously" objected to changing the zoning of the former Firgeleski property.
Becca Welt said she shares her neighbors' concerns and asked about sewer capacity, noting there's already a bad smell coming off Oral School onto Cow Hill in the summer.
In response to a question from commission member Hal Zod about whether the developers have talked about having shuttle service, Respler said yes and that EB is interested because it has "a tremendous parking problem; they don't want more cars going down there."
Commission member Michael Kane said he has a lot of questions, noting, "Maybe I'll submit them to staff, and as we proceed, we can go a little further into the weeds." The commission didn't take any action at its meeting.
Tourism, Traffic, Migrating Fish and Birds — All Part of Planning the Swing Bridge Overhaul
Steve Jensen EAST HADDAM – The first alert is a loud rapid-fire clang of a warning bell like at a railroad crossing, followed in quick sequence by flashing red lights and the wail of a siren.
As the sound fades into the air high above the Connecticut River, vehicle-blocking gates on either side of the East Haddam Swing Bridge drop into place. Foot-high steel barriers rise from the deck as further precaution.
In a small room over the bridge with windows on all sides, an operator scans live video monitors to ensure all is clear, then presses a series of buttons on a control panel.
The massive engines and spinning gears under the bridge engage with a rumble, shuddering the control room as the easternmost span rotates from its middle to the south, creating a wide opening straight down the river.
And for the next eight minutes or so during the opening and closing, it gets very quiet.
The distinctive and persistent metallic hum of vehicles rolling on the open-grid steel deck is shushed, as vessels with masts or equipment too tall to pass under the 25-foot-high span when closed glide silently through the gap.
It’s a familiar ritual to virtually everyone who lives in the area — scenic or aggravating depending on how much of a rush you’re in — since the iconic bridge opened in 1913 to a Ford Model-T parade and a concert drawing thousands.
But now with a major overhaul scheduled to begin in the spring of 2022, drivers can expect delays and occasional extended closures on a much more regular basis. Instead of the typical 8-minute wait, closings will sometimes last for up to 63 hours as the span is rehabilitated and a new pedestrian walkway is installed along its south side.
“A project of this size and complexity is always going to be invasive,” said Andy Cardinali, lead engineer in the bridge-design unit at the state Department of Transportation. “But we try our best to minimize the impact to the public and before we start we want everyone to understand what’s going on.”
The $57 million project — with an 80 percent federal match — was launched when inspectors determined that the bridge’s superstructure had deteriorated to the point that it was jeopardizing its reliable operation. Corroding steel on the deck and the supportive structure under it, and an aging electrical system that often failed and caused the bridge to get stuck in the open position, were among the major areas of concern.
What Cardinali calls “band-aid” work was performed a few years ago to mitigate issues with the opening and closing mechanism, but it was clear it was time for a full-on renovation.
“In order to keep this bridge in a state of good repair a major overhaul is needed every 25 to 30 years,” he said, adding that the bridge is safe and drivers should have no fear crossing it.
Much of the renovation work will restrict traffic to alternating one-way directions.
During full closings, drivers will be detoured up to 29 miles through local roads to reach one of only two other bridges that cross the Connecticut River in the southern half of the state – the Arrigoni Bridge on Route 66 between Middletown and Portland and the Baldwin Bridge on Interstate 95 between Old Lyme and Old Saybrook.
The 63-hour closures — which will be scheduled midweek from Monday to Thursday to minimize impacts to tourist traffic — will allow deck-replacement work that would otherwise be impossible.
Construction also will be adapted to accommodate weekend Broadway shows at the historic Goodspeed Opera House. The landmark stage sits just feet from the bridge’s east end, and is perhaps the most popular attraction in the immediate area.
“We don’t want to interfere with people coming and going and to have all that noise going on during the shows,” Cardinali said.
River travel by oversized boats and barges, which can now rely on regular hourly openings in temperate seasons, will be limited and sometimes completely shut down from passage.
The bridge will remain closed to marine traffic during the winter of 2023-24 to allow work to be done on the complex electrical system that powers the motors and enormous ring gears that open and close the bridge. Passage by smaller boats may also be restricted when work is being done directly in the river channel under the bridge.
And then there’s the sturgeon.
A big, bony fish native to the river, it was once extirpated but is now making a comeback under the watchful eye of state and federal agencies.
Concerns that the intensely bright lights that will be used in nighttime bridge repairs may interfere with the sturgeon’s annual spring spawning migration downriver means the work will be scheduled around their runs.
An array of federal and state agencies have a say in the project, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
“All of these different groups have input on when we can do certain things,” said Rahbi Barakat, a principal department engineer on the project. “The permits get very complicated.”
The 6-foot-wide walkway, cantilevered to the outside of the bridge, will allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross from the Goodspeed Opera House driveway on the east side to the Eagle Landing State Park access road along the west bank in Haddam.
Street-level sidewalks approaching the bridge on either side will be installed to give access to the walkway, and both will be built for use by those with disabilities. Planned safety features include lighting, a new camera system for the bridge operator to monitor traffic, and pedestrian warning gates.
A steel osprey nest platform that has housed the fish-eating raptors for years will be moved from the south side of the bridge to the north to prevent large sticks and other debris from falling onto the walkway and its users.
Area officials say the walkway project will magnify the bridge’s role as a spark and literal conduit for tourism and commerce in the area.
“It will give us a new vantage point to naturally appreciate the Connecticut River from above like never before,” said State Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex. “It will provide new recreation and transportation opportunities, making Haddam and East Haddam more connected and walkable.”
State Rep. Irene Haines, R-East Haddam, who is also the town’s economic development administrator, said the walkway “will strengthen our combined commitment to the two towns’ partnership as well as the entire region’s tourism and economic development.”
Sam Gold, executive director of the regional planning organization, RiverCOG, said the bridge and sidewalk projects have the potential to do nothing less than reinvent the area and infuse it with tourists’ dollars.
He envisions a scenario in which visitors can take the Essex Steam Train from Old Saybrook to Haddam, walk across the bridge to East Haddam and attend a show and have dinner before getting back on the train.
And if a proposal materializes for shops and a boutique hotel to be built in East Haddam as part of a planned commercial development of the downtown village, he said, that scenario could expand into an overnight stay and lunch and shopping and other pursuits the next day there or in other towns in the area.
“The longer a person stays in a place the more money they spend,” Gold said. “We have all these opportunities, but they haven’t been strung together in a way that creates this multiplying effect.”
Acknowledging the disruption that the bridge work will cause, Gold said the long-term benefits far outweigh any temporary setbacks.
“It’s like sending a car out for a major overhaul,” he said. “You put up with it because when you get that car back it’s going to be souped-up with all kinds of add-ons.”
New London mayor announces opposition to port development plans
Greg Smith New London — It was nearly a year ago that New London Mayor Michael Passero had expressed cautious optimism that the city was in line to reap some of the benefits of the planned overhaul of its port.
After months of negotiations, The Connecticut Port Authority had agreed to a $157 million harbor redevelopment plan that would remake State Pier, thanks in large part to a partnership between the state and the joint venture of Danish wind company Ørsted and energy company Eversource.
The deal would transform the port into a modern facility with increased capabilities and see it come alive with activity from the offshore wind industry for at least 10 years. The state, meanwhile, would come closer to meeting its renewable energy goals.
Passero was at the time hoping for an average of $1.3 million a year for city coffers while the wind industry was operating at the new facility.
Plans are moving forward for the redevelopment of the pier but Passero's optimism has dwindled as negotiations for the host community agreement have stalled. His voice of disapproval has grown louder, as evidenced by his address to the CPA at its annual meeting in December:
"The CPA has turned over an amazing asset in the city of New London to two huge for-profit corporations and given them a free pass from their property tax obligation to the city,” he said. “You are in fact acting like a colonial power, stealing the assets of the City of New London to build your own revenues and to fill the corporate pockets of two huge corporations, one which pays its CEO an obscene $20 million a year."
He repeats and expounds on those comments in a Sunday op-ed in The Day.
The city is now gearing up to oppose the redevelopment plan on several fronts, perhaps most importantly by planning roadblocks to the CPA’s permit application with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DEEP are crucial to making the State Pier transformation a reality. DEEP is expected to announce a date for a public hearing in the coming weeks.
Negotiations for a host community agreement with Ørsted and Eversource have been stalled since March, Passero said. The transfer of State Pier property to the Connecticut Port Authority has left the city without a means to collect the $125,000 a year it was getting through a Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, program when it was owned by the state Department of Transportation.
Passero has loudly voiced his disapproval of the Connecticut Port Authority, plagued with internal issues over the past two years, for its lack of transparency and what he has called a string of broken promises, which include a seat on the port authority’s board. Local legislators have vowed to support securing that seat.
With the redevelopment, Passero said he sees an opportunity for what he has called “just compensation” after years of neglect to his distressed municipality.
“The city’s hope and expectation was that the port authority would begin to remedy the historic inequality of grossly inadequate compensation to the city for lost property tax revenue. This has not happened,” Passero said at the CPA’s annual meeting last month.
State Pier is operated by Gateway, the state's largest port terminal operator. The agreement with the state, Gateway, the CPA and Ørsted/Eversource is for a sublease of State Pier for a minimum of 10 years for use of the facility for pre-assembly of wind turbine generators in support of offshore wind projects. Ørsted and Eversource have promised $77.5 million toward the redevelopment and $20 million in rent over the 10-year period.
Ørsted has not commented on the stalled negotiations for a host community agreement with New London. Passero previously has said the two sides had agreed in principle to yearly minimum payments to the city — $750,000 per year for the first two years of the agreement to cover a prior commitment and $500,000 per year in subsequent years.
What Ørsted/Eversource has not agreed to is compensating the city for lost PILOT funds, currently at $125,000 annually. Passero argues that figure should increase as the value of State Pier increases.
As part of the CPA agreement, the city will additionally see $125,000 per year — a minimum of $50,000 per year from port revenues and another $75,000 to cover impact fees for the city.
Passero, in a recent interview, referred to the funds as “crumbs off the table.”
The CPA has said the property is not subject to PILOT funding, though David Kooris, chairman of the CPA board, said it was unclear to him whether the state would immediately stop its payments to the city.
“On the one hand it’s technically true the property is no longer subject to PILOT funds. That being said, I don’t see the legislature targeting New London and reducing the set PILOT amount because of the transfer of property" to the CPA, Kooris said.
A spokesman with the state Office of Policy and Management was not immediately available to comment on the status of PILOT funding.
Kooris said the CPA has supported Passero’s bid to have a seat on the CPA board and also has been involved in ongoing discussions with various state agencies to support New London's position.
Max Reiss, a director of communication for Gov. Ned Lamont, said “the Office of the Governor, Office of Policy and Management, and the Department of Economic and Community Development have remained actively engaged in negotiations to ensure the City of New London is compensated for (its) vital role in ensuring this historic, once in a generation economic development opportunity for the region, is successful."
"This project will bring a significant number of direct and indirect jobs to the region, which will benefit New London and the surrounding communities, and the Lamont Administration agrees, that the City of New London is entitled to adequate support from the state, and beyond," Reiss said.
Kooris said the city’s recent opposition to the redevelopment of the pier is disappointing, given that the partnership will benefit the region for generations.
“New London is in a position to capitalize on the impacts,” he said. “I don’t understand what the alternative is. If we don’t invest in the facility there continues to be a meager amount of cargo coming through and, without the heavier load bearing capacity, there are only certain things that can move through that facility.”
Displacement of current State Pier tenants — longshoremen, a road salt distributor and commercial fishermen, among others — is another issue that continues to be debated. There remains opposition to giving exclusive use of the pier to the wind industry and excluding regular cargo.
Tenants at State Pier have to be moved to accommodate the massive construction project, which includes filling in between the two existing piers. But the CPA has argued that the end result is a facility better able to accommodate more activity in the future.
“We have been able to attract a marquee entity to be a customer at the facility,” Kooris said. “More jobs will flow through the port. I would love to see everyone spend their time and energy trying to figure out what aspect of the supply chain we can be attracting to New London. I’d like to think that what we’re doing for the port is making it one step in making things better for the city.”
Passero said the city remains in a difficult situation. “We’ve heard nothing from (Ørsted/Eversource) since March 13. The state seems to have empowered them to just not have to meet their obligations. Which means they don’t feel like they owe any obligations to the city. The project’s going forward to their benefit and with no consideration to the city.”
“Every dollar they are exempt is a dollar we’ve subsidized their profits,” he said of the lack of property tax obligations. “As far as I’m concerned the state is doing the bidding of these two private corporations. They’re supposed to be sticking up for the city of New London.”
How Pete Buttigieg could save mass transit
, When President-elect Joe Biden's cabinet takes office later this month, all eyes will be on the public-health officials coping with covid-19. But one of the most difficult and important post-pandemic tasks - restoring America's deteriorating mass-transit systems - will rest with the secretary of Transportation.
The question is not so much whether Pete Buttigieg is ambitious enough to try to do something big with what's traditionally been a small job. (He is.) It's whether he's willing to take on the Democratic Party interests necessary to bring about true reform.
The size of the challenge can hardly be overstated.
The main issue is simply that the core mission of a mass transit system - delivering large numbers of commuters to central business districts - has become dramatically less relevant during the pandemic, when most white-collar workers shifted to Zoom-based work. There are plenty of blue-collar and service jobs downtown, of course, but many of those workers got furloughed or laid off from lunch spots, dry cleaners and other places that serve a workforce that's no longer there.
That ridership collapse, combined with new costs for what can only be called hygiene theater, has left transit agencies with huge budget holes. Across the U.S., agencies are discussing "doomsday" budgets that slash service and raise fares.
That risks a service/ridership death spiral: As trains and buses become less frequent, fewer people take them, further reducing revenue and inducing further cuts. A functioning transit system, after all, is a network - so the elimination of even marginal routes hurts ridership on the core, while less frequency on core routes makes the entire network less useful. All of this is exacerbated by the fact that it's not clear how robustly in-person office culture will resume even when it's deemed safe.
True, the recent covid relief package contains billions in mass transit funding, so agencies are now backing off their worst-case scenarios. But federal money won't fully plug the hole, and transit officials have yet to grapple with the fact that the most transit-oriented jurisdictions are precisely the ones seeing declines in tax revenue and may be facing reduced state and local subsidies.
There is good news: It is very possible to reduce transit spending without drastically curtailing service levels.
There's been a fair amount of media discussion in recent years of the sky-high infrastructure construction costs in the U.S., a pressing problem whose exact causes and dimensions remain somewhat mysterious. But many U.S. transit agencies also have exorbitant operating costs, and here the causes are generally clearer.
In New York, for example, subway trains require two people to operate - a driver and a conductor, whose presence is allegedly required for passenger safety. But many heavy rail systems around the world - including Tokyo, London, Paris, Chicago and Boston - get by with just a single driver. Commuter rail systems across the country routinely employ only one conductor to collect tickets. Standard operating procedure on regional rail networks abroad (the RER in Paris, for example) is to rely on much more sporadic fare checks with fines for non-payments. A few riders probably end up getting away with not paying, but it's more than made up for by the labor cost savings - which in turn make it economical to run service more frequently.
Meanwhile, as a May report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes, productivity in U.S. urban transit systems has been declining for years. In 2018, according to the report, it was lower than in 2007.
As long as big coastal cities were seeing increasing tax revenue due to rising property values, it was understandable that nobody wanted to tackle this problem head-on. But with money running short, the future of urban commuting uncertain, and transit agencies in crisis, it is now an ideal issue for a reform-minded secretary of Transportation.
Federal relief money is enough to stave off collapse. But America shouldn't settle for a dignified gradual decline. Buttigieg should try to use his department's discretionary authority - both as a grantor of funds, and as a regular of transit systems - to push for reforms that will stretch the money, maintain service levels and sustain ridership.
He should also use his bully pulpit as a well-known public figure to call attention to the excesses of the status quo. Picking fights with labor unions is not an obvious path to popularity for a Democratic Party politician. But Buttigieg is obviously ambitious, and he needs to find a way to for his star to continue to rise. Tackling the thorny and long-entrenched problems of inefficient transit operations fits the bill. It also suits his resume as a former management consultant and problem-solving mayor.
There's no real precedent for a crusading reformer at the Department of Transportation. Then again, there's no precedent for a former secretary of Transportation making it to the White House. Mayor Pete could be the first on both counts.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Yglesias writes the Slow Boring blog and newsletter. A co-founder of Vox and a former columnist for Slate, he is also host of "The Weeds" podcast and is the author, most recently, of "One Billion Americans."