‘Green Hydrogen,’ Small Solar Projects, Electricity Bills Top Arconti’s Energy Agenda

BRENDAN CROWLEY

Encouraging the development of shared solar projects, planning a path to “green hydrogen,” and lowering electric bills for customers of the state’s largest utilities will top an abbreviated agenda of the legislature’s Energy & Technology Committee when it reconvenes in February State Rep. David Arconti, D-Danbury, told CT Examiner.

Arconti, who co-chairs the committee, said that lawmakers will finalize the agenda over the next weeks before the Feb 9 start of session, but with a short election year calendar, he said he has several priorities of his own that he’d like to see addressed in the coming months. 

“We tend to have to prioritize in a short session, and sometimes bills take on a life of their own,” Arconti said. “There’s always certain concepts that people don’t really see coming, but they take on a life of their own during the session and get the groundswell of support to get through both chambers.”

Incentivizing local solar projects

Arconti said that in his view a key priority would be to address how the state can encourage more local, cost-effective clean energy projects that spur local investment and jobs – especially by raising the cap of the Shared Clean Energy Facility program. 

Arconti said the focus will be more on smaller, local projects – which the Shared Clean Energy Facility program is geared towards. Awarding more contracts to larger, grid-scale projects could lead to Connecticut buying from out-of-state, or to more out-of-state companies and workers being involved in the projects, he said.

“This is going to entail looking at current programs and adjusting rules to allow for more localized resources, which have the most positive impact on rates, and also delivering clean energy jobs to Connecticut workers,” Arconti said.

The Shared Clean Energy Facility program funds mid-sized solar projects that generate between 100 kilowatts and 4 megawatts – larger than rooftop home solar installations, but not as large as bigger solar farms. These projects are “shared” because they have at least 10 subscribers – individuals, businesses, governments – who all pay for the project in exchange for credits on their electric bill for the electricity generated by the project.

The program, which is entering its third year, allows the state to award contracts of up to 25 megawatts of generating capacity each year. Arconti said that he wants to consider raising that cap to allow more projects to be built. 

Arconti said he also wants to consider increasing the percentage of those projects that have to be located in poorer communities. Helping poorer communities take advantage of renewables will be a focus for the session, Arconti said – especially communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the emissions from fossil-fuel burning plants.

“I think you get the biggest bang for your buck in deploying clean energy in the communities that have borne the burden of hosting fossil fuel plants,” Arconti said. “The program is designed to help those communities take advantage of clean energy, and we want to really increase deployment in those environmental justice communities.”

Roadmap to a “green hydrogen” hub

The Biden administration has pushed “clean hydrogen” as a crucial piece to reducing carbon emissions, especially with heavy trucks and industrial manufacturing. 

The infrastructure bill Congress passed in November included $9.5 billion for “clean hydrogen” projects – including $8 billion for developing four hydrogen hubs in the U.S.

Arconti said the federal infrastructure bill “puts a big bet” on building up hydrogen as a major tool to help reduce emissions from transportation and manufacturing, and that the commitments to offshore wind made in Connecticut and the northeast set it up to play a major role in hydrogen.

Arconti said Connecticut the state should develop a roadmap to guide the state towards becoming a hub for producing “green hydrogen” – where renewable energy sources like wind or solar power are harnessed to do the energy-intensive work of extracting hydrogen gas from water molecules. For the legislature, that means initiating a task force. 

“Using advanced green hydrogen like that could help us decarbonize hard-to-decarbonize sectors like industrial transportation and manufacturing,” he said.

Electricity costs and utility companies

In 2020, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed sweeping changes to how the state regulates storm response by electric utilities Eversource and United Illuminating. 

Arconti said that so far the “Take Back Our Grid Act” was working as intended, and that lawmakers would continue to tweak the state’s rate-setting formulas in an effort to help energy customers. Connecticut electric customers shouldn’t have more risk with their energy bills than the utilities’ shareholders have, he said.

The earning sharing mechanism – which splits the money utilities make in excess of their allowed return on investment between the company and its customers – could use some “favorable tweaking” so more money goes to customers, Arconti said.  

And there are some other mechanisms that are “a little bit too favorable” to the utilities that lawmakers could look at tweaking, Arconti said.

“I think that would lead to more dollars flowing back to ratepayers,” Arconti said.

Arconti and co-chair State Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex say they also want a frank evaluation of how the decision to deregulate the energy market in 1998 has shaped the market we have today. 

Arconti said that conversation is especially important now, given that most of the New England states continue to push for reforms regarding how ISO-New England operates the regional grid. 

But given the short session, he said that it’s unlikely that conversation will happen this year.

“I think we need the utilities to be more engaged on how deregulation has worked,” Arconti said. “They’re the ones who really participate in the market every day, and I’d like them to state, a little more publicly, their thoughts on how deregulation has worked out – in markets, in reliability and planning, and also just cost to the ratepayers.”

SHELTON — Drivers will soon have to get used to some number changes for exits along Route 8 from Bridgeport through the Valley.

The State Department of Transportation announced plans are being developed for traffic sign replacement and renumbering along Route 8 corridor. Plans are also being prepared to replace signs and complex sign supports along Route 8 in Bridgeport, Shelton, Derby and Naugatuck.

Additionally, to be in conformance with federal standards, state transportation officials say mileage-based exit numbering will be included on the entirety of Route 8.

“The existing signs and supports have exceeded their useful service life and need replacement,” according to state DOT officials.

In a written statement Jan. 6, DOT said the project involves “the replacement of only those signs that have exceeded their useful service life, have less than adequate retro-reflectivity, have evidence of damage, or are no longer in compliance with Federal and State standards and guidelines.”

Northbound from Bridgeport, the former Exit 2 in the city will now be Exit 1. Lindley Street Exit 4 will become Exit 2A. Stratford Exit 8 is slated to become Exit 5. In exit number changes will be for Huntington Road, from Exit 11 to 7; Old Stratford Road, 12 to 9; Constitution Boulevard/Bridgeport Avenue, 13 to 11; CT 110/Howe Avenue, 14 to 12A; and CT34/Derby/New Haven, 15 to 12B. All number changes are tentative at this point.

“I feel like a time in Shelton’s history is coming to a close,” state Rep. Jason Perillo, who was born and raised in Shelton, as were his parents and grandparents.

“The Shelton section of Route 8 was built in 1975 before I was born,” Perillo, the House deputy Republican leader, added. “We always got off at Exit 13 to go home as a kid and my dad still lives in the same house. So, I guess my dad now lives off of ‘new’ Exit 11? It’s going to take some getting used to.”

Perillo said his father still refers to Bridgeport Avenue as Route 8 — before the highway was built in 1975, Bridgeport Avenue was Route 8 — which he admits he always thought was “weird.”

But now the shoe may be on the other foot.

“So, I guess my daughter will look at me funny when I talk about the good old days when Exit 13 was ‘really’ Exit 13,” he said.

Farther north, the Pershing Drive exit in Ansonia will change from 16 to 13A, and Seymour Ave. from 17 to 13B. The Wakelee Ave. exit to Route 334 in Ansonia will change from 19 to 15, and the Derby Ave. exit from 21 to 17.

Exit 26, for Route 63 in Naugatuck, will become the new Exit 25A, and Naugatuck’s Exit 27 will become Exit 25B.

The state DOT website states, on renumbering, that “Highway exit numbers will be modified to a mileage-based exit numbering system to conform with Federal standards as part of corridor sign replacement projects.”

State officials have stated that an informational meeting or formal public hearing will not be necessary.

The design plans for the project are expected to be completed in the spring with construction commencing in the winter of 2022.

7 development projects to watch in West Haven

Brian Zahn

WEST HAVEN — The city has taken a philosophy that if you build it, they will come.

Since the city began raising sections of Beach Street with the help of state bonding to prevent shoreline businesses from flooding, vacant storefronts in the area began to sell in a seeming chain reaction throughout the spring and summer of 2021. Other areas of the city have seen interest from developers, with at least one prominent project planned in most neighborhoods.

Some of the city’s development projects are making progress, while others are awhile away from being completed.

The Haven

A planned experiential mall project on First Avenue has been stalled through multiple mayoral administrations. Mayor Nancy Rossi’s administration has promised movement on the project, with the mayor saying she wants the project to progress more than anyone else.

Last summer, Gov. Ned Lamont signed an act granting a special taxation district for the parcels where the planned mall sits, which city Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan said was an important condition for the developers as they were seeking a lower bonding rate as they prepare to do millions of dollars in construction work.

As a result, the city and developer Simon Property Group must negotiate terms such as how emergency services would be provided in that district. As of last week, Tiernan said has had not heard from the Haven developer in weeks.

“We sent them a draft and I’m still asking for a response,” Tiernan said. “I don’t have a response yet; I would imagine they’re dealing with COVID issues throughout their company like everybody else.”

Multiple requests for comment to Simon Property Group were not immdiately returned.

The former Chick’s Drive In

Chick’s Drive In was immensely popular for decades, offering hot food to beachgoers on Beach Street, until it closed in 2015 following the death of owner Joseph “Chick” Celentano, per his wishes.

In July 2020, the site was purchased for $1 million by by Amico Group LLC principals Stefano Coletta, Michael DelVecchio and Christopher Marone. The three have avoided discussing their explicit plans for the site, but a Facebook page for DelVecchio’s former Orange bar, BarCode, has shared news about the purchase of the site and urged followers to wait for news.

On Dec. 30, the page said it was hiring waitstaff for a beach bar and restaurant at the site.

On Friday, Coletta said the partners are “not ready to share” updates but estimated there would be news to share in the next three weeks.

Savin Rock Plaza

When DeLaurentis Management Corp. bought the strip mall and parking lot comprising Savin Rock Plaza on Captain Thomas Boulevard in July, owner Ed DeLaurentis said he intended to “hit the ground running,” with his first act being to pave the potholes in the heavily damaged parking lot.

“That’s completed now,” he said Friday.

DeLaurentis also has an anchor tenant for the largest retail space, the site of a former grocer: Family Dollar.

A Family Dollar store already is in the plaza but will move to a larger, 18,000-square-foot space.

“Family Dollar has a new model, they’ll be one of the first in the country where they’re becoming a grocery store, with a lot of food and beverages,” he said. “We think they’re a perfect fit for the center.”

When that change happens, DeLaurentis said, he expects to “fill the rest of the center with good tenants.”

“There are some things pending,” he said, adding he expected there would be more news in two weeks.

The former Debonair Beach Motel

Once known for being a beachside motel, the former Debonair has sat blighted and abandoned for seven years. In August, Sim Lev Holdings LLC purchased the site.

New owner Sim Levenhartz said he jumped at the opportunity to purchase a property on the water on Beach Street after he learned the former Chick’s site had sold. However, after obtaining a site in his ideal location, Levenhartz was undecided about what would become of the location — he said he was leaning toward a hotel concept oriented toward families.

Levenhartz said he had not yet made any decisions, however.

“I’m working with the architects. I hope soon we’ll have some more,” he said last week. “We thought something, and then we thought something else. I’m letting them do their jobs.”

Allingtown

When Acorn Group purchased three buildings in the Allingtown neighborhood, it was intended to provide economic vitality to the area, with an emphasis on appealing to the growing enrollment of nearby University of New Haven.

Frank Gladwin, the city’s building official, said a health care system is intended to enter the Park View building, one of the three redevelopment parcels.

“That’s the only bite on that apple I’m aware of,” he said.

Sawmill Road 7-Eleven

On Sawmill Road, the site of a former Staples has been demolished and raised. Developers have worked quickly to erect a 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station on the site. The concept also will included fried chicken and tacos served over a counter.

“That’s a nice project and it’s coming along good,” said Gladwin.

He said the opening date has been delayed, but he expects the city’s building department likely will wrap up its inspections by the end of February at the latest.

Stiles School

Last summer, the City Council heard a proposal from a city consultant: transform the former Stiles School on Main Street into a multi-story, mixed-use development, mixing ground-level market space with a growing laboratory to produce soil-less lettuce, with residential units for workers above that.

The council held a public hearing on the idea last month.

Resident Paul Frosolone spoke up, questioning the viability of the proposal.

“The best interest of the taxpayers is to maximize the ability to bring revenue to that piece of property. I don’t think you’re maximizing the potential of the property,” he told the council.

City officials have expressed support for the idea.

“It’s something I think we really should explore. It’s a new idea, it’s something different, something we don’t have in West Haven,” said Rossi in August. “It would be nice to be the first to do a new innovation like this.”

The council has not yet held a vote about negotiating the project.

Developers envision upscale community along Meriden gateway

Mary Ellen Godin

MERIDEN — The owner of a planned residential and commercial project on Pratt Street hopes to have final plans before city officials in the near future. 

Steven Ancona, president of Flatiron Real Estate Advisors in New York, has hired Kenneth Boroson Architects in New Haven to prepare plans for a 92-unit apartment and commercial complex at 289 Pratt St.  

The city received a $1.8 million brownfield grant to clean up the 14.3-acre vacant lot and a portion of 290 Pratt St. Ancona owns both properties. 

“That’s the first step that has to happen,” said City Councilor Michael Rohde, who chairs the council’s Economic Development Housing and Zoning Committee. “We are in discussions to turn it into an apartment building. It seems like a good project in a good location.”

The proposed lifestyle center is in the city’s gateway corridor, which was recently divided using stone medians and plantings. It is considered the entryway into the city and within the limits of the transit-oriented district. Apartments are allowed within the TOD as is commercial development. 

The development will be mainly market rate housing, with nine units set aside as affordable. Ancona envisions a connection between the Meriden Enterprise Center at 290 Pratt St. and the lifestyle center. The upscale apartments could be for empty nesters, workers and commuters who want to live near the downtown train station, Ancona said.

“We did our own independent market study and the city did its own housing study,” Ancona said. “We looked at what they did and we definitely think there is a need. The transit hub near the property makes it a good location for housing.”

Ancona hopes to bring in a restaurant, salon and other commercial tenants to service residents, workers across the street and the general public.

“We have good synergy between the workplaces at 290,” he said. “The city is making it more of a gateway roadway and we thought it would make a good space for apartments.”

The four-story structure will include 92 luxury rental apartments, ranging from studios to 3-bedrooms. The ground floor will include the office of the property manager and will provide street level public access to retail space.

 Floors two through four will each accommodate 28-30 apartments. Lower-level parking will be provided, as will bicycle racks.

Sustainable components include a rooftop photovoltaic array, electric vehicle charging stations, Energy Star appliances and high performance design. Proposed amenities include a gym, lounge, and outdoor recreation. Residents will have access to a roof deck with plantings, trellis, firepit, and barbecue areas.

Ancona is impressed with the city’s efforts to improve its downtown with the Meriden Green, the planned parklet on the corner of Mill and Pratt streets and development partnerships at the Silver City Commons I and II residential/ commercial complexes.  

Commercial prospects

The Meriden Enterprise Center has exposed brick and beams in office suites that support a variety of tenants, including the Connecitcut Episcopal Church headquarters. It is also the home of Life Saver CPR & First Aid Training, The Sanctum pinball and game spot, Cayboria’s Gym, C & C Machine, Cable Management, Flatiron Realty, Exotic Imports and Exports and more. 

“We’ve been the owners for a long time,” Ancona said. “We really think the city of Meriden is doing an amazing job with the new initiatives and the new housing.” 

Filling commercial space in the new development should be easier than other commercial spaces in the city, Ancona feels. In particular, 24 Colony St. was built primarily for low-income residents and investors look at the income levels of those living nearby. Prospective commercial tenants are more eager to come into a market rate project that can draw from higher income tenants, a workforce across the street and the general public. 

“What we’ve seen across the country is the commercial sector has been (challenged) over COVID,” Ancona said. “That’s not going to last forever. That will change once people settle in and we get past COVID.”

The project partners said they have an initial financing letter from their lender. The project is not relying on any tax credits for financing. 

Too much?

Mayor Kevin Scarpati said that while he supports cleaning up the parcel for a new use, he’s less than enthusiastic about more apartments downtown. 

“Meriden has done its fair share," Scarpati said last week. "I don't think we can increase density in our city. Market rate (housing) is what we need, but at what level?"

Scarpati pointed to the city's agreement with the developer Pennrose to build market rate housing on the Meriden Green, across from the fire station. He believes more mixed use development could cause a glut in the residential and commercial availability and strain emergency services and schools.

But Rohde points to studies that have shown the city has too many older housing styles. 

“I am aware of the older housing stock in town, Rohde said. “Anytime we can bring something more modern to the city, is a good thing.” 

Development booming at Fort Trumbull in New London

Greg Smith 

New London — After years of stalled development plans for the Fort Trumbull area, the city suddenly has four major projects in various stages of development.

A 200-unit residential complex is under construction by RJ Development + Advisors on Howard Street where Hughie's restaurant was once located, and the city has plans to build a $30 million community recreation center at Fort Trumbull.

The latest developments are a 100-unit residential complex and 100-room extended-stay hotel that would span three parcels on the Fort Trumbull peninsula. The plans by Massachusetts-based Optimus Senior Living Group are scheduled to come before the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission on Thursday for a key site development plan approval. While these two projects could become the the first new construction on the peninsula, the RJ Development apartment complex was the first groundbreaking in the area covered by the Fort Trumbull Municipal Development Plan.

The projects collectively total about $100 million in private investment, and all have come together within the past three years, though work to attract development has gone on for two decades.

Peter Davis, the director of the city’s development arm, the Renaissance City Development Association, said it's a combination of factors and timing that have led to the rush of interest.

Davis was hired by New London Mayor Michael Passero in 2016 to help attract developers to an area of the city open to development through the use eminent domain — a chapter in the city’s history that still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of many. The Fort Trumbull neighborhood properties were bought or seized to accommodate development in association with the construction of the former Pfizer research center. The use of eminent domain led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2005 in the case of Kelo v. City of New London. The court sided with the city, but it was a pyrrhic victory.

Pfizer is now gone, but Electric Boat occupies the space, and the submarine maker's hiring blitz over the past several years is helping driving a boom in construction of residential units across the city.

Passero said the city has put together a strategy to attract and guide would-be developers, helping instead of hindering them. The new housing units being constructed are filling up as fast as they are being built, he said.

“There was always a lot of interest for people to live in New London, but there was never the inventory of housing that would attract those people,” Passero said. “People want to live in a walkable urban environment.”

He also credited Davis and the RCDA for facilitating recent developments on Howard Street, including the completed apartment complex at Bank and Howard streets.

Davis said the local market is being driven by the major employers such as EB and Yale New Haven Health. Passero said the development of an offshore wind power hub at State Pier is also helping to drive interest.

If Optimus’ plans are approved, the RCDA has a deal in place for the company to purchase the Fort Trumbull parcels for $750,000.

The purchase would come at an opportune time for the RCDA. It has a Feb. 13 deadline to satisfy a court-stipulated $600,000 settlement with Riverbank Construction, the Westport-based firm that had its own plans for a residential development on the peninsula but was found to be in default of a development agreement by the RCDA’s predecessor, the New London Development Corp. A lawsuit was filed in 2016 and for years left a cloud overhanging any potential development offers on four parcels, 2A, 2B, 2C and 3B. Three of those parcels would now accommodate Optimus’ hotel and residential development. The city has satisfied a $200,000 portion of the settlement, and the RCDA is expected to cover the rest.

If all goes as planned, the Fort Trumbull peninsula would have limited space left for development. The largest parcel is adjacent to land being leased to a commercial fishing businesses. The RCDA is in the process of dividing that parcel because of environmental contamination issues that remain on one portion.

“The state invested a lot of taxpayer dollars in that peninsula to benefit economic development. That’s finally coming to fruition,” Davis said. “The good news is the inventory is shrinking. The bad news is the inventory is shrinking.”

$15M project will turn blighted N. Britain property into mixed-income apartment development

Robert Storace

ew Britain Mayor Erin Stewart and a developer have announced plans for a $15 million project that will turn a blighted property into a new mixed-use apartment development. 

The plan calls for the environmental clean-up, abatement, and redevelopment of New Britain’s Polar Building at 27 Columbus Blvd. and 43 High St., in order to make way for a mixed-income residential development with 62 rental units.

Andy Kowalski, president of aerospace components manufacturer Polar Corp., will also be the project’s developer and lead the clean up of the Polar Building. 

The mayor’s office said all remediation work will be completed this year and demolition has already started on 43 High St., which is an old house located behind the factory building. In addition, the mayor’s office said, the six-family apartment building now located next door at 40 High St. will also be renovated. An occupancy time frame has yet to be determined, the mayor’s office said. 

Stewart, the city’s longtime Republican mayor, said the announcement is just one more step in ridding the Hardware City of another blighted eyesore.

“The redevelopment of the Polar building is the latest piece in the transformation we have been seeing throughout the city that has been made possible through partnerships with property owners who are committed to our vision and want to invest their own resources into New Britain’s future,” the mayor said in a statement. “This grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development will allow the city to continue its partnership with the owner of the Polar building to convert this property from a blighted eyesore that is a target for vandalism to yet another attractive housing option for those looking to move into downtown New Britain and experience all the great things our city has to offer.”

The total project cost is estimated at $15 million and the property’s owner will pursue historical tax credits to help pay for some of the costs, the mayor’s office said.

In addition, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday that $1.35 million in state brownfield grant funding will be used for the project.