Amid appeal over East Windsor project, CT-based developer Verogy eyes Glastonbury for new solar farm
GLASTONBURY — As East
Windsor continues its fight against a proposed solar farm by Verogy,
the West Hartford-based developer has its sights set on Glastonbury for
its latest project.
The proposed Glastonbury Solar One project at 17
Wickham Road would be a 3-megawatt, alternating current (AC) system that would
generate enough electricity to power 778 average homes for a year.
The solar facility would use 17 acres of farmland on a
47-acre parcel owned by the Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Archdiocese
of Hartford. The Holy Cross Cemetery, which is also located on the property and
is overseen by the association, would remain.
The company said that the new facility would help
support Gov.
Ned Lamont's 2019 executive order of having a 100 percent, zero-carbon
target for the electricity sector by 2040.
Verogy co-founder and Director of Development Bryan
Fitzgerald said that the project is estimated to cost between $8.5 million and
$9 million.
According to the project website, the project is designed to
have minimal environmental impacts and would have several benefits, including
an increase in new annual municipal tax revenues with no additional burden to
town services, and strengthened renewable energy resources that would produce
electricity locally with zero pollution.
The Glastonbury project would offset the equivalent of 3,998
metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, equal to the emissions from 449,824
gallons of gasoline consumed, Fitzgerald said.
Credits would be applied to the bills at no cost to
participating electric customers, including low-income and moderate-income
customers as well as small business and municipal customers, according to the
project website. Fitzgerald said that the facility's output would
save subscribing customers a total of $140,000 in an average year.
The project, if approved by the Connecticut Siting Council,
would begin construction in spring 2024 with completion in the fall, according
to the project website.
If the project gets completed, according to the website, the
remainder of the farmland could be used for other purposes.
"Over the past year it was leased to a farmer on a
one-year lease," Fitzgerald said.
What makes the location suitable for the Solar One project,
Fitzgerald said, is that the land is flat, so it is "accepting to the
solar development."
"It's already cleared, so there's no tree
removal," Fitzgerald said. "The wetland is off in the woods, so it
won't be near it, and won't be affected."
Patrick McGloin of Westland Public Relations, which
represents Verogy, said that if the solar farm is approved, Verogy would lease
the property from the association for 20 years, which is typically the minimum
life span for solar equipment.
Fitzgerald said that Verogy notified nearby residents of the
proposed solar farm through its mailing campaign and encourages interaction,
but has not received any feedback as of yet. He said another mail
notification will be sent out via certified mail before its application is
submitted to the siting council, which Verogy plans to do in the next few
weeks.
Verogy is also looking to build solar farm facilities in
other towns, including Franklin, Stafford, Windsor, and Woodstock.
The announcement to build in Glastonbury comes at
the same time that officials in East Windsor have decided to appeal the siting
council's approval of Verogy's
East Windsor Solar Two project at 31 Thrall Road.
East Windsor has two solar farms in operation — NorCap
South on Wapping Road and Solar One on East Road. Solar One, which was built in
2021 after Verogy developed the property for it, is now owned by NextEra. A
third solar farm, Gravel Pit Solar between Apothecaries Hill Road and
Plantation Road, is currently under construction.
“The Connecticut Siting Council has still not recognized the
cumulative impact of these projects on small towns like ours," East
Windsor First Selectman Jason Bowsza said on Thursday. "The council has
ignored the stated position of the town, and accordingly we have no choice but
to appeal the decision the state Superior Court.”
Bowsza previously voiced his opposition to the Thrall Road
proposal in September, saying it would be "gobbling up prime
farmland."
“While the town is strongly disappointed with the
Connecticut Siting Council’s decision, the successes that the town was
able to secure in the conditions of the approval are
significant," Bowsza said on Friday. “I want to thank the grassroots
advocates in East Windsor who were able to join in our efforts to push back on
this application."
Norwich seeks $11.7 million from the state to revitalize its waterfront
Claire Bessette
Norwich ― Now is the time to ask the state for a big
investment in Norwich’s waterfront assets, city officials say, as they lobby
for $11.7 million in state grants to make improvements from the harbor up the
Yantic River.
Hoping to ride the momentum of a new marina owner, city
upgrades to the nearby waterfront park and a new Uncas Leap Heritage Park under
construction on the Yantic River, city officials will now ask the state for
$11.7 million to revitalize the city’s waterfront.
The City Council Monday night agreed to submit a grant
application seeking $11,715,769 from the state Community Investment Fund,
created by Gov. Ned Lamont to assist distressed municipalities across the state
with major projects.
Kevin Brown, president of the Norwich Community Development
Corp., presented the proposed package to the council Monday. The project would
connect Norwich Harbor and the Marina at American Wharf and extend up the
Yantic River along the existing riverfront heritage trail to the new Uncas Leap
Heritage Park being constructed using $2.8 million from the city’s American
Rescue Plan Act grant.
“That’s the purpose of the Community Investment Fund grant,”
Brown said. “It’s a slingshot for distressed communities into the future.”
Brown said Norwich Public Utilities’ construction of a $200
million new sewage treatment plant that will greatly improve water quality and
Norwich Harbor aesthetics adds a caveat to the city’s argument that this is the
right time for the state to help Norwich with a big investment in its
waterfront.
The plan includes $7.8 million to assist new owners Patrick
and Brittany Dwyer with their redevelopment of the Marina at American Wharf.
The Somers couple purchased the marina in October and have started
renovations and efforts to attract a new restaurant tenant. The Dwyers’
matching share in the grant request is $2.4 million.
Brittany Dwyer said if the city obtains the grant, the money
would speed up the Dwyers’ long-term renovation plans for the marina from their
original five to 10 years to an estimated three to five years. Immediate work
underway includes repairs to facilities, electrical and plumbing upgrades,
painting and the securing of a restaurateur for the now-seasonal restaurant.
The plan would renovate the restaurant into a year-round
facility and restore the events tent removed from the grounds. The Dwyers also
hope to reopen the long-shuttered ice cream shop on land the marina leases from
the city north of Howard T. Brown Memorial Park.
“We have a lot of interest in the restaurant,” she said
Monday. “We hope to narrow it down and have the restaurant open by May.”
When boaters return in spring, they will see a fresh look
for marina facilities, docks and grounds, new signs and a new festival tent,
she said. The couple plans a public grand reopening event for May or June.
The grant money the city is seeking would address high-cost
items, including replacing two decaying 30-year-old concrete docks and
installing new fuel tanks.
Brown told the council all the proposed improvements create
economic development opportunities for the city “whether it is people coming in
boats up the river, or people who want to come to the restaurant or come and
have a wedding on the pad in the events tent, or in the permanent structure the
Dwyers envision in the future. There’s an economic impact.”
Norwich used $1.3 million in ARPA money to replace crumbling
city-owned docks at the Howard T. Brown Memorial Park. The $2.17 million
Community Investment Fund request for Brown Park includes money to replace two
other aging docks near the boat launch, with proposed matching amounts of
$208,000 in public-private partnerships and $833,509 from other state grants.
The Brown Park money includes a plan to build a splashpad on
the overgrown area north of the ice cream shop building. The area once housed a
popular miniature golf course but has been closed for years after a fire
damaged the facility.
The city also will ask for $619,500 in CIF grant money
toward an overall $754,500 upgrade to the existing heritage trail that runs
from Brown Park to Uncas Leap. Portions of the trail are along the Yantic
River, and portions follow sidewalks where riverfront access is not possible.
The grant would widen existing paved portions to 10 feet, add pavers to
portions of the trail and replace old pavers in the Brown Park section of the
trail.
Rounding out the CIF grant request is $250,000 for planning
and development to better connect the harbor area to downtown and $38,000 for
environmental studies.
Massachusetts budget approval allows utilities to recoup added cost of hydropower corridor
David Sharp
Portland, Maine — A budget signed by Massachusetts Gov.
Maura Healey this week will allow utilities to raise rates to make up for
hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs to complete a transmission
line to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England electricity grid.
The head of Central Maine Power Co.'s corporate parent
Avangrid has said the cost of the $1 billion project grew
to $1.5 billion as litigation delayed construction and inflation
caused prices to creep upward.
Legislation included in the supplemental budget adopted
Monday allows transmission service agreements to be renegotiated and additional
costs to be passed along to Massachusetts ratepayers to cover the added costs.
Avangrid provided the increased costs to Massachusetts’
electricity distribution companies to adjust the rate in the parties’
transmission services agreements, which would be subject to Department of
Public Utilities review and approval, Avangrid spokesperson Leo Rosales said in
a statement Tuesday.
He praised Healey and lawmakers for taking action to
“deliver this critical project and needed clean power to benefit the entire New
England region.”
Avangrid partnered with Hydro-Quebec on the New England
Clean Energy Connect to supply 1,200 megawatts of hydropower to meet green
energy goals in Massachusetts. That would be enough electricity to power about
a million homes.
The 145-mile transmission line will stretch from Lewiston,
Maine, to the Canadian border.
It received all regulatory approvals but was plagued by
delays, litigation and a referendum in which Maine
voters said “no” to the project.
It was allowed to move forward after a Maine jury
concluded that the developers had a constitutional right to proceed
despite the referendum.
Construction
resumed in August on a transmission hub that's critical to the project
in Lewiston. But it's unclear when other work will restart.
Workers had already begun removing trees and setting utility
poles on a disputed portion of the project, a new 53-mile section cut through
the woods in western Maine, before the project was put on hold.
The project was envisioned to meet Massachusetts' clean
energy goals, and the cost is fully borne by ratepayers in that state.
However, supporters say electricity would lower energy costs
across New England as well as reduce carbon pollution.
CT’s bumpy road to ‘clean cars’: GOP opposed, urban Dems wary
Rep. Geraldo Reyes Jr., D-Waterbury, is an environmental
justice advocate conflicted over whether Connecticut should get back on the
road towards phasing out new-car sales of most gasoline-powered cars and trucks
by 2035.
His 75th House District is bisected by I-84, and some of his
constituents live in a desperately poor census tract hard by the busy highway,
breathing air perfumed by the exhaust of slow-moving trucks and cars at rush
hour.\“My environmental instincts tell me this is a no-brainer,” Reyes said.
But Reyes, as much as anyone in the General Assembly,
embodies the mixed feelings generated by last week’s rejection of regulations
that would have implemented the 2035 mandate.
He wants cleaner air, but he wonders how his financially
struggling constituents would fare in a new-car market dominated by electric
vehicles. Could they afford them? Where would they charge them? Would the state
be ready?
Those questions and others were asked Monday night in a
closed caucus of the House Democratic majority, lawmakers said Tuesday. No
commitments were sought, and another caucus is planned.
“We haven’t figured out exactly what direction we’re going
to take on this yet,” said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford.
“This was really kind of a temperature-check caucus and to get initial concerns
out on the table.”
Last week, some leaders acknowledged during an extraordinary
press conference that advocates of the regulations had badly misread the depth
of opposition, or at least the doubts. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford,
admonished those who demeaned or dismissed the opposition.
“Our party sometimes has a wag-our-finger approach to
individuals who may not always see it the same way,” Ritter said then. “These
are real concerns that can’t be just shooed away, they can’t be wished away.
They have to be worked on.”
A week later, Ritters and others still are assessing the
task ahead. One of the more difficult challenges in politics, whether in a
campaign for office or passage of legislation, is to regain control of a
narrative after it’s been lost to opponents.
“I think there is a real recognition that maybe we missed
the mark in ensuring that people feel comfortable with this,” said Sen.
Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, co-chair of the Transportation Committee.
“A few things pop out at me. The first one is Connecticut
has to be be very clear what this is,” Ritter said. “The greatest misconception
that is out there is that in 2035 you cannot buy a gas-powered vehicle. That’s
not accurate.”
The regulations that failed would have allowed plug-in
hybrids, which are powered by both electric motors and gasoline engines, to be
part of the new-car mix still allowed in 2035. Gas-powered cars also still
could be sold in the used-car market.
Environmental advocates say they erred by focusing on the
legislature’s Regulation Review Committee and not responding more broadly to
the Republicans who effectively campaigned to the public, primarily over issues
of affordability of electric vehicles, the capacity of the electric grid and
the availability of chargers.
With the bipartisan passage of a law signed by a Republican
governor in 2004, Connecticut opted to follow the California emission
standards, which are more stringent than those imposed by federal law. The
state law authorized Connecticut to keep pace with California standards by the
promulgation of regulations.
But Republicans said the revised California standards, which
created a timetable for phasing out new-car sales of most gas-powered vehicles
by 2035, was a significant policy change that should be weighed by the full
General Assembly.
Due to Connecticut’s unusual process for implementing
regulations — a review by a bipartisan legislative committee with seven
Democrats and seven Republicans — the GOP minority could kill the new standards
if only one Democrat joined them. When it became apparent there were two likely
defections, the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont conceded defeat and withdrew
the regulations.
Ritter and Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New
Haven, reacted to the setback by promising to seek legislation that would keep
Connecticut committed to the clean-air standards and 2035 timetable that has
been endorsed by Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, among other states.
“They need to stand up and make this happen,” said Lori
Brown, executive director of the League of Conservation Voters. “We’re taking
them at their word.”
One possibility floated by Ritter is legislation affirming
Connecticut’s commitment to the California timetable, while also requiring a
second vote in perhaps five years —providing an opportunity to assess if the
state had made sufficient progress toward building a charging network.
Sen. Stephen Harding of Brookfield, the ranking Republican
senator on the Environment Committee, said he favors the state offering
incentives to consumers and businesses that would help increase the market for
zero-emission vehicles.
“Those are all things I’m absolutely 100% open to and
probably would get around to supporting,” Harding said. “My view is a mandate
is not workable at this particular time.”
Harding said the possibility of an exit from the California
standards in five years if Connecticut is not ready was unlikely to attract
Republican support. The state should first demonstrate progress towards the
necessary infrastructure, then seek a commitment to a phase-out deadline, he
said.
“There is some legitimate concern out there. I also
think there is some misinformation and disinformation,” Cohen said.
Republicans repeatedly have said the Lamont administration
has no plan for ensuring the state would be ready for an auto market dominated
by electric vehicles.
Actually, the administration published a “policy
framework” in 2020 for electric vehicle adoption and a strategic plan in
2022 for expanding public electric charging stations. Last year, the Public
Utilities Regulatory Authority launched a
nine-year plan to build a system of chargers.
But Ritter, Cohen and others acknowledge they need to
address the concerns raised by urban lawmakers, who say their constituents’
needs typically have been overlooked when environmental policies are crafted.
The majority of lawmakers at the press conference last week were white and
suburban.
“There is this divide with the perspective of people who
represent more affluent areas and those that represent people in large
apartment buildings,” Ritter said.
It’s easier to envision charging an EV when you own a
two-car garage, he said.
Sen. Patricia Billie Miller, D-Stamford, the chair of the
Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, said, “The urban centers have to be included in
these conversations. From my perspective, we’ve been excluded.”
Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, said the tension between
minority urban communities and environmentalists is not new.
“The challenge here is a challenge that has existed for a
long time,” Winfield said. “I think that it’s important to remember that
population that may even be served by a policy have to feel they are part of
making this policy.”
In Waterbury, Reyes said his constituents are not engaged on
the car standards.
“This is not their biggest priority,” said Reyes, the
immediate past president of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.
“My constituents don’t have an appetite for this at all.”
In the census tract in his district that is closest to the
highway, the median household income is $25,000, less than one-third the
statewide median. Reyes says the jobless rate there is 19%, more than five
times the state rate of 3.5%.
While his caucus leaders have raised the possibility of
addressing the emissions issue in a special session before the regular session
opens in 2024, Reyes said that would be a mistake.
“There is a lot on the table here,” he said.
For most Black and Latino lawmakers, he said, a quick vote
would mean a no vote.
Cardi Stops Work on Its $116.5M MassDOT Highway Contract
Cardi Corp. stopped work as of Oct. 27 on its $116.5-million
general contract for a total $139-million Massachusetts highway interchange
improvement project in Taunton. The move left the job, which involves routes 24
and 140, in limbo as the state works with the contractor’s surety bonding
company to hire a replacement.
“There’s no substantial quality issues with the work
performed to date that would require the work to be redone,” says John Goggin,
a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation (MassDOT). The
project is about 23% complete, he adds.
The Warwick, R.I.-based Cardi did not immediately respond to
inquiries.
But Goggin says MassDOT is now in discussions with Cardi’s
bonding company to complete the project under a takeover agreement with a
replacement contractor. Any additional costs between the value of Cardi’s
$116.5-million contract would be the responsibility of the bonding company,
Goggin says, though he did not immediately provide the name of the firm.
Also, Goggin could not say how much the shutdown and a
search for a replacement contractor would affect the schedule.
Work on the interchange improvement project includes
replacing three bridges, building new ramps and wall structures, widening the
roads and more. Cardi received a notice to proceed effective February 2021.
Work was scheduled to continue until June 2027.
Cardi is a family-owned contractor founded in the early
1900s that has been a significant regional player specializing in heavy
highway, site and utility work. It has served as the general contractor on
projects such as the Rhode Island Dept. of Transportation (RIDOT)’s Interstate 95 and I-95 relocation project, completed in
2009. In 2021, Cardi ranked Number 385 on the ENR
Top 400 Contractors list.
Earlier this year, Cardi said in a statement to Providence, R.I., NBC affiliate
WJAR that it had “encountered cash flow issues as a result of design problems,
work delays and resequencing on some of our projects,” but it was working
through the difficulties with assistance from its surety. WJAR then reported in July that the contractor had fallen
behind schedule on RIDOT's $164.5 million Route 37 improvements project.
RIDOT now expects the Route 37 project to wrap up next
summer, about one year later than originally scheduled, says a spokesperson.
The department's project managers have been working with Cardi's bonding
authority to ensure the contractor's projects are completed on budget, and it
has subcontractors in place to complete the work.
MassDOT received eight bids for the Taunton work in 2020,
records show. Cardi’s $116.5-million bid came in the lowest. The others ranged
from $125.8 million to $154.9 million.
White House proposes nationwide lead pipe replacement
The EPA proposed new restrictions Thursday that would
require the replacement
of virtually all lead water pipes across the U.S., according to a
White House press release. The goal is to remove the neurotoxin from drinking
water and prevent another public health catastrophe like the one that occurred
in Flint, Michigan.
Under the proposal, utilities must replace lead pipes
entirely over the next decade at a pace of 10% each year, and must create
inventories of all their lead pipes. The agency will accept public comments on
the proposal for 60 days and will finalize the rule sometime next year.
The plan would affect about 9 million pipes
across the country, and could cost $20 billion to $30 billion, according to
The New York Times. It represents the strictest-ever limit on lead in drinking
water, but wouldn’t ban it entirely: rather, it would lower the allowable
amount to 10 parts per billion from the current 15 parts per billion.
Dive Insight:
The heads of Dallas-based contractors AECOM and Jacobs,
Montreal-headquartered WSP and
other major construction firms have identified water projects as a growing
market. Beyond pipe replacement, resilience, flooding, stormwater and other
climate change-related water work is booming, buoyed by the IIJA and other
federal spending.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act designates $15
billion to help utilities pay for the upgrades along with $11.7 billion in
general-purpose funding through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund that
can be used for lead pipe replacement, according to the release. Funding from
the American Rescue Plan’s $350 billion State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund
can also be used to replace lead service lines and remediate lead paint.
The EPA’s lead pipe proposal advances the Lead
Pipe and Paint Action Plan, the Biden administration’s multi-agency push to
reduce all sources of lead exposure.
There is no safe level of exposure to lead, particularly for
children, according to the World Health Organization. It can cause irreversible
brain and nervous system damage, learning and behavior problems, slow growth
and development issues.
The new proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements also
increase tap water sampling requirements, mandate water systems to complete
comprehensive and publicly available lead service line inventories and
strengthen requirements for water systems to take additional actions to reduce
lead health risks, per the White House press release.
Megaprojects drive up demand for steel
The renewed onshoring push is already stretching
procurement timelines for many materials across the board, namely
microchips, HVAC equipment, electrical switchgear and fabricated millwork.
Now, in addition to those materials, these
multibillion-dollar megaprojects are also exerting pressure on sourcing steel.
Chip factories, battery plants and even data centers all
require more and larger steel conduit than typical nonresidential construction,
such as office buildings or hospitality facilities, said Dale Crawford,
executive director of the Steel Tube Institute, a Chicago-based organization
that brings together key producers in the steel industry.
Spending
on manufacturing construction projects, the largest nonresidential building
segment, reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $206.85 billion in
October, a 71.2% increase from October 2022. Data center starts should reach
$16.4 billion in 2023 and $17.9 billion in 2024, a 14% and 6% annual growth,
respectively, over the next two years, according to Dodge Construction Network.
For smaller contractors, that means these types of projects
will further amplify the strain on steel prices, said Scott Keller, engineer at
Gordian, a Greenville, South Carolina-based construction cost data tracking
firm. That’s true even after a short reprieve following labor stoppages at some
plants.
“We have seen steel prices decrease over the latter half of
2023 with the United
Auto Workers’ strike decreasing demand for certain steel products. Now
that the strike has ended and demand has gone up, steel prices are following
suit,” said Keller. “We would expect that if these megaprojects
all move forward, further increasing demand, it could make it difficult for
smaller contractors with increased costs and possibly longer lead times for
residential projects.”
Prices
for steel mill products, such as large structural sections, heavy plate,
strip, wire rod, bars and pipe, dropped 2.5% in October, and remain down close
to 10% over the past 12 months, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
data. However, despite much-needed cooling over the past year, steel mill
products are still 62.1% more expensive than in February 2020.
That’s bad news for smaller contractors, who are already
grappling with reduced commercial real estate activity, said Anirban Basu,
chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors.
Bottom of Form
“Smaller contractors are often the ones most dependent on
developer-driven activity,” said Basu. “With developers facing both higher
borrowing costs and greater difficulty lining up project financing, backlog
among some contractors is beginning to dissipate.”
Smaller contractors, or those firms with less than $30
million in annual revenue, have now posted three straight months of overall
backlog contractions, according to the ABC backlog indicator
report. On the other hand, contractors with annual revenue greater than
$30 million continue to pile on work.
For example, firms that bring in between $50 million and
$100 million in sales notched the biggest backlog growth in October, according
to the ABC backlog indicator report. That pipeline of work by larger
contractors, coupled with other global trends, will put pressure on steel
prices again in 2024, said Sam Giffin, director of data operations at Gordian.
“Looking at the trends in the market over the past six
months, we’ve seen steel prices largely stabilize,” said Giffin. “[However,]
with reduced international demand coming down the pipe from China, increasing
costs here in the United States and supply constraints, it seems likely that
prices will continue to trend up mildly in 2024.”
Cause for optimism
Not all the news is bad, though. Steel pipe and tube, which
includes conduits, account for a small fraction of overall demand for steel,
said Basu.
So, while manufacturing projects and substantial data center
investments may put upward pressure on steel conduit prices, that does not
necessarily translate to an immediate increase in steel prices within the next
year, he added.
“Prices received by domestic producers of iron and steel
remain up more than 52% from February 2020 but have fallen 26% since the end of
2021,” said Basu. “Other factors, like declining global demand, falling diesel
prices and softer activity in other nonresidential segments should allow steel
prices to continue to moderate, although they will remain elevated relative to
the pre-pandemic level.”