Utility Infrastructure
Artesian Resources Acquires Cantwell Water Company
Artesian Resources Corporation’s principal subsidiary, Artesian Water Company, Inc., has acquired the water assets of the Cantwell Water Company of Odessa. The purchase leverages Artesian’s newly expanded franchise area in southern New Castle County and allows the 40 customers previously on the Cant..
American Water Makes Leadership Change
American Water today announced Loyd “Aldie” Warnock, currently senior vice president of External Affairs, Communications and Public Policy, will expand his role and also oversee the company’s Corporate Business Development department, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Warnock will replace Mark Strauss, who is..
$14 Million Pipeline Construction Contract Awarded
Crossfire, LLC has been awarded a $14 million contract from New Mexico Gas Company to reroute approximately six miles of natural gas pipeline in the Río Grande Gorge along State Road 68. The project consists of replacing 8-inch-diameter natural gas pipe with a larger 12-inch-diameter pipe to accomm..
New Series Highlights "Utility of the Future" Challenges
The Retail Energy Practice of global economic consultancy The Brattle Group is producing a series of briefs that provide an integrated view into potential utility responses to the challenges and trends associated with the “Utility of the Future” (UoF). “The business model that has worked for utilit..
Trial Delay Sought for Former Utility Regulator, 3 Others
PHOENIX (AP) — Trial for a former Arizona utility regulator accused of accepting payments from a water company owner in exchange for a boost in rates will likely be delayed. Federal prosecutors and attorneys for former Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce and three others agreed to th..
Study: Customer Support of Energy Utilities Directly Related to Brand Trust
According to the 2017 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential Cogent Reports™ study by Market Strategies International, support of utility rates and attracting consumer use of alternative energy offerings requires brand trust among residential electric and natural gas utility consu..
Chicago Utilities Celebrate Grand Opening of New Training Center
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel yesterday joined Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas President and CEO Charles Matthews, Alderman Ricardo Muñoz (22nd), Illinois State Senator Martin Sandoval and other community leaders in celebrating the grand opening of Peoples Energy Training Center, a new utilities tr..
Board Orders Review of Vermont Utility Regulation System
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Public Service Board has ordered a review of the state’s utility regulation system saying it wants to make sure it’s equipped to handle modern utilities. The review would include a look at an alternative regulatory model used by Green Mountain Power and Verm..
2 Dead, 3 Injured After Indiana House Explosion
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Firefighters found two bodies in the basement of a southwest Indiana house after it was destroyed by an explosion and fire Tuesday that also injured three people. Searchers located the first body amid the rubble about four hours after the explosion was reported around 8:45 a..
Georgia Utility Awards Sewer Contract
The Walker County Water & Sewerage Authority (WCWSA) has awarded a $297,000 contract to Insituform, an Aegion Company, to combat millions of gallons of stormwater infiltrating its system. The project involves renewing and extending the life of 11,000 feet of sewer line, utilizing a cured in place p..
Water Utility Nears Safety Milestone
Mesa Water District has announced it is approaching four years without a lost time accident due to a robust environmental health and safety program that has helped the district achieve a “gold standard” of safety performance. Mesa Water’s overall safety rating improved 15 percent between 2014 and 2..
Artesian Water Completes Infrastructure Project
Artesian Resources Corporation’s principal subsidiary, Artesian Water Company, Inc. has achieved full regionalization of drinking water throughout its growing southern New Castle County service area. In June 2017, Artesian’s transmission and distribution teams completed several critical service con..
Vermont Utility Regulators Give Final Nod to FairPoint Deal
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Vermont utility regulators have given final approval to a deal that will allow the state’s largest landline telecommunications company to be acquired by an Illinois Company. The Vermont Public Service Board decision that was released Monday says the combined company that wi..
West Virginia American Water Begins Infrastructure Upgrades
West Virginia American Water today announced it is beginning work on the following water infrastructure improvement projects: An approximately $70,000 project to replace 500 feet of 1950s-era water line with new six-inch PVC line in South Hills. The project will take place along Bridg..
Pennsylvania American Water Names New Senior Supervisor
Pennsylvania American Water today announced that Jamie Yakes has been named to the position of senior supervisor of the company’s Yardley District, which provides water service to Yardley Borough, Lower Makefield Township and Falls Township. In his new position, Yakes is responsible for overs..
Pennsylvania American Water Names New Coatesville Operations Superintendent
Pennsylvania American Water today announced the appointment of Justin Brame to the position of operations superintendent of its Coatesville area water and wastewater systems. In his new role, Brame will oversee all aspects of the Coatesville operations, including distribution, collection, wat..
American Water Announces Recipients of 2017 James LaFrankie Scholarship Awards
American Water has announced the recipients of the 26th annual James V. LaFrankie Scholarship Awards. The awards were distributed nationwide to nine college-bound children of full-time American Water employees who demonstrate an interest in water-related industry occupational fields. Out of 66 comp..
Vermont Public Service Board Is Changing Its Name
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Public Service Board is changing its name to the Vermont Public Utility Commission. The board announced on its website that the new name will go into effect on July 1. The panel will continue its mission of approving the siting of energy project and ove..
California's Giant Water Tunnels Win First Crucial Approval
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials gave crucial first approval Monday to California Gov. Jerry Brown’s decades-old ambitions to build two massive tunnels that would re-engineer the water system in the nation’s most populous state. The National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wi..
Pennsylvania American Water Begins Two Water Main Upgrade Projects
Pennsylvania American Water has announced work is underway on the following construction projects: Upgrading more than 3,500 feet of water main in Clarks Summit and South Abington Township to improve reliability for customers, reduce service disruptions and increase water flows for firefighting. ..
Pennsylvania American Water Begins Water Line Expansion
Pennsylvania American Water has started construction to extend water lines in Butler County to provide public water service to the Summit Township Elementary School and approximately 100 residential customers. The elementary school was closed in January after reports of lead and E.coli contami..
Contracts Awarded for Underground Utilities Construction
The Palm Beach Town Council has approved the following contracts for underground utilities construction: More than $4.8 million to Burkhardt Construction for undergrounding, water main and drainage improvements $7.9 million to Whiting-Turner Contracting for the installation of underground utilit..
Feds To Give Update On California’s Big Water Tunnels
The federal regulators evaluating Gov. Jerry Brown’s decades-old ambitions to re-engineer the water supplies from California’s largest river are promising a status update Monday, as Brown’s $16 billion proposal to shunt part of the Sacramento through two mammoth tunnels awaits a crucial yes or no fr..
Maine Regulators, FairPoint Agree on $175K Settlement
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine utility regulators and FairPoint Communications are in agreement on a $175,000 settlement after the company failed to meet performance benchmarks from 2014 to last year. The state Public Utilities Commission’s staff had recommended $500,000 in fines after FairPoint..
Montana City Takes Ownership of Water Utility
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — The city of Missoula has taken ownership of the water utility that serves its residents after a three-year court battle. The city bought Mountain Water Co. for $83.86 million and paid another $6.8 million to developers who had a claim against the company. Those amounts ..
Philadelphia Expanding, Improving Low-income Water Program
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Water Department is launching a new program next month to provide discounted service to low-income families. Philly.com (http://bit.ly/2sRCnQx ) says the city expects about 50,000 households to participate, about five times as many as the city’s current program ..
Settlement Approved in 2016 Seattle Natural Gas Explosion
SEATTLE (AP) — The state’s largest energy utility will pay at least $1.5 million for a natural gas explosion in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood last year. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission on Monday approved a settlement between Puget Sound Energy and commission staff reached ..
Republicans Ready Regulatory Relief for Pipelines
It looks like, based on two recent hearings, that GOP members of the House are focused on providing the pipeline industry with regulatory relief as part of any infrastructure bill which comes before Congress. One House committee held hearings in May on a discussion draft of legislation containing ch..
California to Require Utilities to Plug Gas Leaks Big and Small
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California regulators adopted a stricter rule Thursday that requires utilities to plug leaks in natural gas lines. The rule adopted by California Public Utilities Commission aims to cut 40 percent of the potent greenhouse gases emitted from leaking pipes and gas distribution syst..
$90 Million Contract Awarded for Construction of Stormwater Conveyance System
The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati has awarded Kokosing Industrial Inc. an $89.9 million construction contract for the Lick Run Greenway Project, a 1.5-mile stormwater conveyance system designed to keep hundreds of millions of gallons of combined sewer overflow out of the Mill Cre..
- 290-mile gas pipeline expansion proposed across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
- Body retrieved day after fatal trench collapse at Bakersfield, Calif., job site
- $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
- 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