Amid appeal over East Windsor project, CT-based developer Verogy eyes Glastonbury for new solar farm 

Jamila Young

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

Mark Pazniokas

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

James Leggate

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

Julie Strupp

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

Sebastian Obando

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.”