Business
American Water’s Dr. Mark LeChevallier Appointed to Water Science & Technology Board
American Water’s Vice President and Chief Science Advisor, Dr. Mark LeChevallier, has been appointed to the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies). The Water Science and Technology Board was established in the Nationa..
Democrat Stone Leaving Mississippi Senate for Utility Job
HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) — A Democrat from northern Mississippi is leaving the state Senate to become manager of a local utility company. Sen. Bill Stone of Holly Springs tells the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that his resignation will take effect Monday. The Mississippi Constitution bans ..
Utility Honored for Commitment to Environmental Excellence
Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) has been recognized by the Southeastern Electric Exchange (SEE) with its Chairman’s Award for the company’s response to numerous environmental challenges encountered during an important transmission line project. The recognition marks the second time FPL has recei..
Oncor, Sharyland to Swap Assets
Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC has entered into an agreement with Sharyland Utilities, L.P. and Sharyland Distribution & Transmission Services, L.L.C. to swap assets in a transaction valued at approximately $400 million. After successful close of the transaction, Sharyland Distribution & T..
Quanta Services Acquires Stronghold
Quanta Services, Inc. has finalized the acquisition of Stronghold, Ltd. and Stronghold Specialty, Ltd. (Stronghold), a leading specialized services company that provides high pressure and critical path solutions to the downstream and midstream energy markets. Headquartered in La Porte, Texas, Strong..
A. O. Smith, The Water Council Announce Technology Challenge Winner
A. O. Smith Corporation and The Water Council have selected Nanolytix of Toronto as the 2017 winner of the BREW Corporate: Powered by A. O. Smith challenge. Nanolytix is a pioneer in artificial intelligence and sensor technologies for water quality detection applications. The unique water quality s..
Ex-Water Corporation Contractor Sentenced in Kickback Scheme
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A former contractor for the company that oversaw Newark’s water services has been sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a kickback scheme. Eighty-year-old James Porter, of East Orange, was sentenced on Thursday after previously pleading guilty to giving kickbacks to a..
2 To Receive Awards For Exposing Flint Water Problems
FLINT, Mich. (AP) – Two people who exposed problems from lead-tainted water in Flint have been selected for MIT Media Lab Disobedience awards. Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Virginia Tech University engineering professor Marc Edwards will receive the award Friday in Cambridge, Massac..
Avista Sale Needs Approval from Stockholders and Regulators
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The sale of Spokane-based Avista Corp. to a Canadian energy company must still win approval from shareholders and regulators. Hydro One, based in Toronto, Canada, announced Wednesday that it would pay $5.3 billion cash to buy Avista, which supplies electricity and natural gas ..
Cable ONE Business Eyes Mississippi for Piranha Fiber Launch
Cable ONE Business has announced it is currently considering Mississippi for its next launch of Piranha Fiber – Ferociously Fast Internet, which offers 2 gigabits per second of symmetrical internet speed. “Piranha Fiber would be the first 2 gigabit shared fiber optic internet service available to b..
Frontier Communications Partners with Coriant to Enhance Broadband Services in Connecticut
Coriant, a supplier of packet optical, IP, and SDN solutions to Tier 1 global service providers and web-scale Internet operators, today announced that Frontier Communications Corporation will deploy the company’s technology to modernize its fiber-optic transport infrastructure across Connecticut. Th..
Hydro One Acquires Avista Corp.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Hydro One Limited of Toronto, Canada, has purchased Spokane-based Avista Corp. for $5.3 billion, creating one of North America’s largest regulated utilities. The combined companies said Wednesday they will have $25.4 billion in assets. The companies will serve more than 2 mil..
Burns & McDonnell Adds Utility Modernization Consultant
Burns & McDonnell has named Doug Houseman utility modernization lead consultant to help clients navigate evolving regulations, market conditions and industry needs. Houseman has nearly four decades of engineering and consulting experience, including assisting with an Italian utility’s network o..
Black & Veatch Works to Improve Colorado’s Water Supply
Black & Veatch has assigned two senior practice leaders to help ensure sustainable water supply in Colorado. Greg Zamensky and Chris Mueller will deliver the company’s water supply, dam-related storage and transmission systems services along the Front Range. The appointments come as Colorado increa..
New Jersey American Water Publishes Interactive Pipeline Map
New Jersey American Water has published an interactive Infrastructure Upgrade Map on its website to share details about its pipeline renewal projects. The user-friendly map allows customers to view details about the company’s water and wastewater pipe renewal or replacement projects across its 190 ..
California American Water Acquires Oxbow Marina Mutual Water Company
California American Water has completed its acquisition of the Oxbow Marina Mutual Water Company in Sacramento. Under the terms of an agreement approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, California American Water will be providing its newly welcomed customers with state-regulated potabl..
Ditch Witch Represents Oklahoma in Made in America Product Showcase
Ditch Witch®, a Charles Machine Works Company, today represented Oklahoma at the Made in America Product Showcase celebrating American-made products hosted at the White House. A Ditch Witch JT20 horizontal directional drill (HDD) was on display at the event. “We are honored to represent the state o..
NASSCO Standard Bearers: Mark Metcalf
This month, NASSCO honors Mark Metcalf who epitomizes the association’s commitment to serving the industry in a positive manner. My original career plan was to get into real estate. I received my bachelor’s of science degree in business administration from Arizona State University in 1973, but inst..
Illinois American Water Acquires Forest Homes-Maple Park Public Water District
Illinois American Water has acquired the Forest Homes-Maple Park Public Water District. The purchase of the system adds approximately 500 customers to the company’s customer base in the Alton District. In a public referendum on Nov. 3, 2016, residents of Forest Homes-Maple Park Public Water Distric..
AEM Names New Senior VP of AG Services
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has named Curt Blades as senior vice president, AG services, replacing Charlie O’Brien, who announced his retirement from AEM earlier this year. In this role, Blades will be responsible for strategic direction of agriculture programs and services for the A..
INGAA Foundation Names Incoming Executive Director
Industry-veteran Jason M. Goldstein will formally assume the role of executive director of the INGAA Foundation, upon the August 31 retirement of Richard Hoffmann. As executive director, Goldstein will be responsible for managing the Foundation’s technical and economic studies, implementing its str..
DCA, AGA Joint Workshop Engages New Subjects, Expands Existing Efforts
The Distribution Contractors Association (DCA) and American Gas Association (AGA) held their third annual Utility Contractor Workshop at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago on April 18-19. Since the first joint workshop, the event has expanded both in attendance, as well as the scope of issues address..
IES Holdings Acquires NEXT Electric
IES Holdings, Inc. has acquired 80% of the membership interests in NEXT Electric, LLC, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based electrical contractor specializing in the design, installation and maintenance of electrical systems for commercial, industrial, healthcare, water treatment and education markets. NEX..
DTE Energy Names Robert Skaggs to Board of Directors
DTE Energy has named Robert Skaggs to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. For more than a decade, Skaggs served as chief executive for both the Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. and NiSource Inc., a Fortune 500 energy holding company engaged in natural gas and electric utilities and the ..
PPI Division’s New Name Reflects Expanding Use Of HDPE Conduit
The Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI), the major trade association representing all segments of the plastic pipe industry, has renamed its Conduit Division as the Power & Communications Division (PCD). This change was prompted by growth within the division, uses of conduit in rapidly developing applica..
Trump Selects Lawyer as FERC's Chairman
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has nominated energy lawyer Kevin McIntyre to chair the vacancy-plagued commission that oversees the nation’s power grid and natural gas pipelines. Only one commissioner currently serves on the five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, leaving it wit..
Fluke Networks' LinkWare™ Live Reaches Industry Milestone
Fluke Networks today announced that its cloud-based LinkWare Live service has reached a significant milestone – contractors and cable installers have uploaded more than five million test results to date. “In developing LinkWare Live, we looked closely at the daily challenges that installers were fa..
Water Research Foundation Launches Project on Resilient Water Infrastructure
The Water Research Foundation has launched a new project to improve the resiliency of water utilities, specifically around infrastructure needs. The project, Resilient Water Infrastructure: Improving Understanding and Assessing Needs, will gather information from regions and municipalities (both sma..
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company Wins Safety Excellence Award
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation has been awarded the Western Dredging Association’s (WEDA) 2017 Annual Safety Excellence Award for a Dredging Project. The company received the award for its work on the John Redmond Dredging Project, which was performed by its Rivers and Lakes Division under c..
Illinois American Water’s Cairo District Earns National Safety Award for a Second Time
Illinois American Water’s Cairo District received the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Wendell R. LaDue Utility Safety Award for excellence in safety. The award recognizes distinguished safety programs by water utilities and requires excellent safety records for five consecutive years, as wel..
- 290-mile gas pipeline expansion proposed across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
- $227 million Garnet Valley water project advances, set to create 73,000 jobs in Nevada
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish
- Construction underway for $1.4 billion, 60-mile water pipeline in Chicago
- Gehl and Mustang offer world’s largest skid loader
- Growing Pains and Gains
- Authorities investigating trench collapse that killed worker in Ashburn, Va.
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish