INDUSTRY ATTENDANCE NEEDED

PLEASE SEND AS MANY PEOPLE FROM YOUR COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION AS POSSIBLE

STRONG SUPPORT IS NEEDED

A MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL IS BEING CONSIDERED IN THE U.S. SENATE

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT!

ALL HANDS ON DECK!

BRING YOUR BANNERS, SIGNS, FLAGS!

 PRESS CONFERENCE

U.S. SENATORS RICHARD BLUMENTHAL AND CHRIS MURPHY

TODAY!   WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2021

1:30PM

NORTH SIDE OF THE STATE CAPITOL

210 CAPITOL AVENUE

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

Roads, bridges, jobs: Biden selling big infrastructure deal 

JOSH BOAK and JONATHAN LEMIRE, Associated Press

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden declared America urgently needs a “generational investment” in its infrastructure, as he looks to sell voters on the economic benefits of the $973 billion bipartisan package that still faces an uncertain future in Congress.

On Tuesday, Biden traveled to La Crosse, Wisconsin, population 52,000, and toured its public transit center, highlighting projects — including hybrid buses and road repair equipment — that would receive additional funding from the infrastructure bill. He argued that the package, which is held together in large part by the promise of millions of new jobs, is a way for the United States to assert both the principles of democracy and the economic might that can come from dramatic investments in the country’s future.

“This deal isn’t just the sum of its parts. It’s a signal to ourselves, and to the world, that American democracy can come through and deliver for all our people," said Biden. “America has always been propelled into the future by landmark investments."

He said there is a critical need to improve crumbling infrastructure — from overwhelmed power grids to lead-filled water pipes to traffic-clogged roads — and stressed that the effort needs to be ambitious to not only improve Americans' daily lives now but also to combat the growing challenges of climate change.

"We’re not just tinkering around the edges,” Biden said.

He also made his pitch in personal terms, reminiscing about driving a bus during law school and noting the 1972 traffic accident that killed his first wife and daughter, as he called for improvements to make the nation's roads safer.

The visit to Wisconsin was the beginning of what the White House has declared will be a series of presidential trips to sell the bipartisan bill — and to reassure the nervous Republicans who helped craft it.

“I’m going to be out there making the case for the American people until this job is done, until we bring this bipartisan bill home,” said the president, though he allowed that “there will be more disagreements to be resolved, more compromises” to be made.

The process briefly fell into disarray late last week as Biden suggested the deal would be held up until he received a much larger, separate package for infrastructure, jobs and education that would be determined solely by Democrats through Congress' “budget reconciliation” process.

Biden said Saturday that this was not a veto threat, and by Sunday the package appeared back on track. But there were still anxieties on both sides of the aisle.

Some Republicans have questioned the wisdom of signing onto a bipartisan bill if it is linked to a party-line reconciliation bill that will contain a host of additional Democratic priorities. And GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, who has often declared his steadfast opposition to the Biden agenda, has questioned the process.

Meanwhile, a balancing act awaited among Democrats as well: Some more liberal members of the party have urged Biden to push for a Democrats-only bill at least as large as his previously stated $4 trillion goal, while some more moderate members have signaled they’d want a much smaller number. With the Senate deadlocked 50-50, with ties broken by Vice President Kamala Harris, the White House can’t afford to lose a single vote.

As Biden trumpeted the bipartisan first version in public, the White House furiously worked behind the scenes to keep it on track.

Senior West Wing aides, including top adviser Steve Ricchetti, met with House Democrats at the Capitol on Tuesday. Others have had calls this week with more than 60 Democratic and Republican members and chiefs of staff and other aides, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Wisconsin.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said she and other leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus were assured that the strategy remains moving the bipartisan infrastructure and Democrat-only reconciliation bills together.

“They seem to be very firm on that strategy, that the bills move simultaneously together and a realization that that’s the only way that we are able to pass” them, said Omar.

Psaki said the White House was going along with the timeline outlined by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has said he wants to have both packages on the floor for debate next month.

An internal White House memo highlights how the administration contends the largest investment in transportation, water systems and services in nearly a century would boost growth. The memo notes that the total package is four times the size of the infrastructure investment made a dozen years ago in response to the Great Recession and the biggest since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s.

It also emphasizes an analysis suggesting that 90% of the jobs generated by the spending could go to workers without college degrees, a key shift as a majority of net job gains before the pandemic went to college graduates.

“This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America,” the memo says.

The visit to La Crosse was indeed a blue-collar political play, with faux traffic construction signs that said “American Jobs Plan” dotted across the venue. The president has long connected with working-class voters, while Wisconsin is one of the trio of Great Lakes states — along with Michigan and Pennsylvania — that Biden narrowly reclaimed for the Democrats after they were captured by Donald Trump in 2016.

Biden, making an impromptu stop for ice cream after his speech, received a suggestion to order the rocky road flavor as a nod to the infrastructure bill. He quipped, “It's been a rocky road, but we're going to get it done” and instead ordered cookies and cream and strawberry.

Potential economic gains were a shared incentive for the group of Democratic and Republican senators who agreed to the deal last week. McConnell said he has not yet decided whether he will support the bipartisan package, but he wants Biden to pressure House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Schumer to say they will allow the bipartisan arrangement to pass without mandating that the much larger and broader follow-up bill be in place.

“I appreciate the president saying that he’s willing to deal with infrastructure separately, but he doesn’t control the Congress,” McConnell said this week.

The two bills had always been expected to move in tandem, and that is likely to continue as Biden drops his veto threat but reaches across the aisle for the nearly $1 trillion bipartisan package as well as his own broader package. The Democratic leaders are pressing ahead on the broader bill, which includes Biden’s families and climate change proposals, as well as their own investments in Medicare, swelling to some $6 trillion.

One of the Democratic moderates, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, reiterated Tuesday that he would be amenable to a party-line budget bill but did not address its size.

He told MSNBC, "I have agreed that that can be done.”

Wallingford releases details of data center host fee agreement

By Lauren Takores, Record-Journal staff

WALLINGFORD — The town has disclosed the contents of its revised host agreement with a tech company that wants to build data centers on the east side of town.

The council voted 5 to 4 to approve the host agreement with Gotspace Data Partners, which includes the fee amounts as a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes and list of properties where the facilities could be built.

The council voted Wednesday in the early morning hours, during a meeting that began Tuesday evening.

A data center houses network computers for central storage, management and dissemination of information. The Gotspace data centers would house telecommunications infrastructure and operate 24 hours a day.

The state legislature passed a bill earlier this year to incentivize the development of data centers in Connecticut. It goes into effect July 1.

Any owner or operator of data centers can apply for a municipal tax exemption by entering into a host agreement with a municipality. Wallingford would continue to tax all real and personal property, according to the agreement.

Gotspace, the data center owner, is seeking to build on two potential properties, consisting of cobbled-together parcels of undeveloped land and farmland with various owners.

The host agreement specifies which properties could be developed into data centers, and limits the agreement to just those properties.

Gotspace is not required to develop all of the properties, according to the agreement. The town does not endorse the listed properties in the agreement, according to a memo from Wallingford’s legal counsel.

Gotspace is exploring two potential data center campuses in Wallingford. One property is 205 acres located behind North Farms Road, and one is 138 acres near Northrop Road. A site off Barnes Road was removed from consideration by a council vote.

Entrance to the properties is prohibited on North Farms, Tankwood and Williams roads, except for emergency access.

The maps showing building locations presented so far have been conceptual. The town's land use commissions would still need to sign off on any development plans.

The agreement stipulates that buildings must be 45 feet tall or under, and that any building facing a residential street must conform to regulations regarding building color, fencing, landscaping and light fixtures.

The proposed sites are in the Industrial Expansion (IX) zone, which currently does not include data centers as a permitted use. The Planning and Zoning Commission would have to change the zoning regulations to allow data centers.

How much money would the town get?

Under the agreement, Gotspace would pay Wallingford an annual host fee for each building that contains computer servers.

The fee amount for each building will be determined based on its designed data storage capacity, or actual use if in excess of design capacity, plus all other electricity utilized in building operation.

The host fees for each building with a capacity of 32 megawatts (MW) or higher would be $1.5 million annually.

For each building with a capacity of 16MW to 32MW, it would be $1 million annually, and for each building with a capacity of less than 16MW, it would be $500,000 annually.

There would be an annual increase of at least 2 percent or, if greater, by the consumer price index formula, with a 3 percent cap.

It’s difficult to estimate how much the town could receive annually. Since there are no formal plans submitted to the town Planning and Zoning office, it’s unclear how many buildings are slated for each property, each building’s capacity and the actual use of each building.

Right now, the conceptual plans show 10 data center buildings can fit on the two properties. At the highest level of capacity at 32MW, the town could stand to make $15 million per year.

The first host fee payment for a building is due one year from the date that a certificate of occupancy is issued for the building. Further payments are due on each anniversary of that date.

Maintaining eligibility for tax exemption

The agreement addresses what would happen if any new state or federal law or regulation required substantial changes to the terms of the agreement.

Both the town and Gotspace would enter into “good faith negotiations” to make the required changes, and if they couldn’t agree on the amendments, they may terminate the agreement.

Some requirements for Gotspace to maintain its eligibility for tax exemption include applying for building permits on each parcel within 36 months, keeping the town reasonably informed as to its plans and actions. and providing an anticipated construction schedule and bonding for each building.

Gotspace agrees it will not pursue from Wallingford any additional tax exemptions, or adjustment to its taxes or payments to the town, however Gotspace can still seek tax relief from state or federal authorities.

Gotspace must also enter into an agreement with the state Department of Economic and Community Development commissioner, an agreement with Wallingford Electric Division and appeal to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission to allow data centers in the zone they want to build in.

Sound requirements

Several neighbors spoke out against the plans for the North Farms campus during Tuesday’s meeting and at past Town Council meetings.

They have raised concerns that the data centers would negatively impact the rural character of their neighborhood and quality of life, and particularly focus on the potential for sound emanations.

The agreement includes regulations on sound. 

Under the agreement, Gotspace must retain a noise control engineer as a consultant to prepare sound monitoring protocol to determine the pre-existing background sound level for each and every building located on the properties, including where, when and how sound monitoring is to be conducted.

A noise baseline would be determined by measuring the sound at one or more locations nearest to the residences in hourly increments for one week, or 168 hours continuously.

The monitoring protocol plan would be submitted to the town for its own sound consultant’s review and comment.

Gotspace’s sound consultant would then model sound levels transmitted from all facilities to the nearest residences, propose controls and demonstrate compliance through modeling of the sound standards approved by the town. 

A report describing limits and design goals, noise and vibration control concepts to be implemented in the design of the facility would be submitted next for town review.

Both the town and Gotspace’s sound consultants would design and implement the acoustical concepts into the design drawings for the approved plan.  

A final acoustical design report signed by Gotspace’s sound consultant detailing the acoustic design would be submitted to the town along with the permitting documents, to be approved by the town’s consultants.

Post construction — defined as within 40 days after a certificate of occupancy has been issued by the town — Gotspace’s sound consultant would measure the sound at the edge of the residential property line to ensure compliance with the applicable limits and design goals.

If the site is ever out of compliance, within 14 days Gotspace’s sound consultant would make recommendations for corrective work, including the time frame, to the town.

If the operations are expanded over time, proof of compliance will be required upon the completion of the expansions. Failure to comply will be deemed a breach of the agreement.

Massachusetts’ ambitious climate law facing first tests

By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press

BOSTON — Massachusetts has turned a critical corner in its response to climate change.

A sweeping law signed by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker with muted pandemic fanfare back in March officially took effect late last week, 90 days after the bill signing.

Supporters say it’s now time to get down to the nitty-gritty of making sure the state meets the lofty goals of the law — like creating a net-zero greenhouse gas emission limit by 2050.

The law triggers an initial series of changes throughout 2021 and 2022, according to Democratic Sen. Mike Barrett, co-chair of the Committee on Telecommunication, Utilities and Energy.

Some of those initial steps may seem modest, even bureaucratic, but supporters say they're critical to helping the state transition to a renewable energy future.

One step calls for the state Department of Public Utilities to consider six factors as it decides electric power and natural gas rates, reviews electric and gas company contracts, and makes policy.

While reliability and affordability remain crucial, the law adds four new criteria: safety, security from cyberattacks and physical sabotage, equity, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The law also requires the state energy efficiency initiative, Mass Save, to factor in a new goal — the “social value of greenhouse gas emission reductions” — into programs it creates for the three-year period 2022-2024.

The new goal means offering incentives for consumers to adopt technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, like replacing an oil-burning furnace for an electric heat pump, Barrett said. It’s essentially the reverse of a carbon tax — a carrot instead of a stick.

"Carbon pricing penalizes energy sources that pollute. Social values pricing rewards energy sources that are clean,” Barrett said. “That should have been a no-brainer.”

The administration is working to put the law into effect.

The 2022-2024 plan is already under development. The plan would limit fossil fuel space heating incentives only to technologies where clear, cost-effective savings remain and phase out fossil fuel water heating incentives, according to administration spokesperson Katie Gronendyke.

The administration has also updated the state’s Environmental Justice Policy as required by the law with a new definition of "Environmental Justice Population” — typically lower-income communities facing greater health risks from pollution — and the process by which neighborhoods may be included under that policy.

The DPU’s mission statement has also been updated to reflect the goals of the law.

“The mission of the DPU is to ensure that consumers’ rights are protected, and that utility companies are providing the most reliable service at the lowest possible cost," the updated statement reads in part. “The DPU seeks to promote safety, security, reliability of service, affordability, equity, and greenhouse gas emission reductions.”

Under the law, the governor must also appoint three new members of the Board of Building Regulations and Standards. One must be an expert in commercial building energy efficiency, another an expert in residential building energy efficiency and the third an expert in advanced building technology.

The new law includes additional steps, like incremental goals every five years to reach a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, before meeting the 2050 goal.

The law would also: require an additional 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind; set appliance energy efficiency standards; create benchmarks for the adoption of clean energy technologies like electric vehicles, charging stations, solar technology and energy storage; and create an energy code to allow net-zero building construction for towns that want it.

While the new law takes a series of important steps, the state shouldn’t stop there, according to Ben Hellerstein, state director of Environment Massachusetts.

Advocates are pushing an even more ambitious goal of transitioning Massachusetts to 100% clean electricity by 2035 and 100% clean heating and transportation by 2045, noting that other states are already setting similarly ambitious benchmarks.

Former Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo had signed an executive order making 2030 the target date for the state to completely transition to renewable energy sources. State lawmakers are weighing a bill that would write that goal into law.

It’s time for Massachusetts to "take a step further by pledging to phase out the use of fossil fuels for heating and transportation, too,” Hellerstein said.

The key to the Massachusetts law is constant vigilance to make sure the smaller, intermediate steps are met, Barrett said.

“Legislative oversight is going to be key here," he said. “We can’t let this get away from us.”