The (Almost) Daily Brief

Builders Associations Move to Void Minnesota Residential Energy Code Mandate

By Megan Dayton · 10/23/2026

FUNDING  MnDOT District 6 has opened a $2.1 million Transportation Alternatives solicitation with letters of intent due Oct. 30. The 11-county southeast Minnesota region will fund pedestrian and bicycle facilities, historic preservation, Safe Routes to School, and related work with federal money programmed for construction in fiscal year 2031. Applicants file a letter of intent first and a full application after a regional and district review. Reviews run Nov. 2 through Nov. 25, the full application period opens Nov. 30, and applications close Jan. 8, 2027. The Area Transportation Partnership selects projects by March 29, 2027. Transportation Alternatives money covers a maximum of 80 percent of a project and requires a local match of at least 20 percent. An application must request at least $200,000 in Transportation Alternatives funds against a minimum project cost of $250,000.

Source: MnDOT District 6, Oct. 20

POLICY  Judge Anne C. O’Reilly has found that Minnesota’s prime farmland rule caps the 180-megawatt Lemon Hill Solar project at 90 acres, against the 939 to 1,030 acres it would use. The administrative law judge recommended denial of the Olmsted County site permit in a report filed Sept. 8. Minnesota Rules 7850.4400, subpart 4 bars permitting a large electric power generating plant whose developed site includes more than 0.5 acres of prime farmland per megawatt of net generating capacity, unless the applicant shows there is no feasible and prudent alternative. Economic considerations alone do not justify the use of prime farmland. O’Reilly also faulted the alternatives analysis. The applicant ruled out other sites within five miles because those sites would also exceed the allowance, without stating how much prime farmland each would take or whether the chosen site took the least. Lemon Hill Solar, LLC is a joint venture of Ranger Power and DESRI Holdings, and its plan puts 966 acres of development inside a site in Haverhill and Viola townships. The company filed exceptions and moved to stay portions of the report. Commission environmental permitting staff, IUOE Local 49, and LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota filed exceptions of their own. The commission took the matter up on Oct. 22 with competing decision options from Chair Sieben and Commissioners Tuma and Ham on the table. The Post Bulletin reported that the commission rejected the recommendation to deny and is moving the permit forward. No order had posted to the docket as of Oct. 23.

Sources: Findings of fact and recommendations, CAH 65-2500-41406 (Sept. 8), eDockets 20269-236181-01; Minnesota PUC, Energy Infrastructure Permitting (docket 25-126); Minnesota PUC eDockets, docket 25-126 filing index; Post Bulletin, Oct. 22

BIZ  Niron Magnetics will name the state for its $1.8 billion magnet plant by the end of 2026, and chief executive Jonathan Rowntree puts Minnesota at a disadvantage on incentives. Rowntree told Axios Twin Cities on Oct. 22 that Minnesota remains a candidate and that the headquarters stays here wherever the plant goes. A Department of Employment and Economic Development spokesperson said the agency works within the authority and financial tools the Legislature has given it for recruiting, retaining and expanding businesses. Niron’s March announcement put the plant at 1,600,000 square feet with more than 700 full-time jobs and capacity of up to 10,000 tons of iron nitride permanent magnets a year, which the company puts at 1 to 2 percent of the global permanent magnet market. Construction is anticipated in early 2028. Savills is running the search and screening sites on transportation access, energy capacity, workforce availability and alignment with environmental and economic development priorities. Niron is pursuing Department of Energy and Defense Department loans and grants toward the cost. It employs 180 at its Northeast Minneapolis headquarters and expects 200 by year-end, with another 175 jobs planned at its Sartell plant, which opens in 2027.

Sources: Axios Twin Cities, Oct. 22; Niron Magnetics, Mar. 16

ENG  MnDOT has opened a survey on the bump at the end of the bridge, with responses due Nov. 12. The research project, Bridge Approach Roadway Embankment Improvements, is collecting evidence on how often bridge approach roadway settlement shows up in Minnesota and which design and maintenance practices hold it down. The project summary calls bridge bumps “a persistent challenge to DOTs including MnDOT, affecting ride quality, safety, and maintenance costs.” MnDOT puts the survey at five to ten minutes. Joe Nietfeld is principal engineer and project champion. Anand Puppala is principal investigator and Bora Cetin is co-investigator. The technical panel draws from MnDOT Bridges, Materials and Road Research and District 7, along with two Dakota County members. The contract started July 22 and the project is listed as active.

Sources: MnDOT, Oct. 23; MnDOT research project 31974; Survey form

BIZ  Dodge Construction Network put total U.S. construction starts down 1.5 percent in September, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.33 trillion. The release landed Oct. 21. Nonresidential starts fell 6.3 percent to a $583 billion annual rate, pulled down by an 18.4 percent drop in commercial work. Hotels fell 46.3 percent, offices and data centers 21.4 percent, and manufacturing 21 percent. Institutional starts rose 16.3 percent on education starts up 38.4 percent, while healthcare slipped 3 percent. Nonbuilding starts grew 5.5 percent to a $377 billion annual rate, with highway and bridge starts up 20.8 percent and environmental public works up 0.8 percent. Utility starts fell 4.1 percent. Residential eased 0.3 percent, with single family down 7.4 percent and multifamily up 11.3 percent. Through September, electric power and utility starts are up 70.1 percent, highways and bridges up 0.9 percent, and environmental public works down 4.1 percent. Regionally, starts fell 13 percent in the Midwest over the month and 20 percent in the South Central, and rose 33 percent in the West. Sarah Martin, director of economic research at Dodge, said the institutional and nonbuilding gains “provided a counterweight to weaker commercial and single-family starts.”

Source: Dodge Construction Network, Oct. 21

POLICY  The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement on design changes NewRange Copper Nickel proposes to its NorthMet project. The department announced the determination on Oct. 8, after NewRange notified it of the proposed changes on July 29. State law requires a supplemental statement when proposed changes are substantial and affect the potential for significant environmental impacts, or when new information could significantly affect them. The NorthMet mine and processing facility sits 6 miles north of Hoyt Lakes in Saint Louis County. Its final environmental impact statement was published in 2015 and found adequate in March 2016. The supplemental statement will build on that document and will not reopen it. The department’s next step is a preparation notice defining the scope and an anticipated completion timeline, followed by public comment before any final decision on scope. The review is state-only, and the department says it will coordinate with federal partners. The proposed changes may require new or amended permits, and state and local agencies cannot make final permit decisions until the supplemental statement is adequate.

Source: WDIO, Oct. 8

ENG  FEMA is asking industry how to repackage National Flood Insurance Program support contracts, with architect-engineer services proposed as one of four categories. The agency published a request for information as it moves the program toward what it calls a more unified operating model, and it plans an industry day in mid-November with virtual participation. The draft groups support into architect-engineer services, customer care and stakeholder engagement, program management, and subject matter expertise, and FEMA says those groupings could be added to, removed, combined or separated as market research and acquisition planning proceed. The architect-engineer category would cover flood risk data production and validation, technical analysis, post-disaster hazard data, and mitigation work. Subject matter expertise could reach floodplain management, geospatial and data analysis, quality assurance, and Community Rating System support. FEMA is asking whether the services should be bought individually or together, and for recommendations on sourcing vehicles, single-award against multiple-award structures, and transition risk. Systems-of-record operations moving to a FEMA-wide information technology contract, NFIP Direct, and certain flood hazard support sit outside the request. Registration details for the industry day are to follow in an update to the notice.

Sources: SAM.gov notice; ACEC National, Federal Agencies and Procurement Advocacy Committee summary, Oct. 23

PROJECTS  JE Dunn will serve as construction manager at risk on a $480 million replacement of the Terminal 1 central utility plant at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. The firm announced the selection on Oct. 22. The Terminal 1 Boiler and Chiller Replacement and Energy Management Center expansion sits inside a $1.47 billion airport modernization program. The plant came online with Terminal 1 in the early 1960s, runs around the clock, and has to keep running through construction. The existing Energy Management Center is boxed in by terminal infrastructure with insufficient room for the larger replacement boilers and chillers. The building will therefore be expanded, and six gate hold areas on Concourse C serving gates C6 through C11 will be demolished and rebuilt with larger footprints. The delivery model brings the contractor in during design and sets guaranteed maximum prices as phases advance. JE Dunn’s preconstruction role covers constructability reviews, cost estimating, scheduling, phasing, logistics, risk management, and long-lead equipment procurement. The firm says the upgrade serves Metropolitan Airports Commission targets of an 80 percent emissions cut and a 15 percent cut in water use per passenger by 2030. A design team is already engaged and has not been publicly identified.

Source: Engineering News-Record, Oct. 22

FUNDING  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has allocated $102 million to replace 15,028 private lead water service lines in 12 municipalities. The governor and the department announced the awards on Oct. 22 under the Lead Service Line Replacement Program, which draws on the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program and money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Wausau takes $10.6 million. Neenah takes $1.9 million to remove 249 lines in low-income census tracts, of which $1,451,363 is principal forgiveness and $483,788 carries an interest rate of 0.25 percent. Mellen’s $773,278 is entirely principal forgiveness and covers 70 lines. The state counts 86,094 public and private lines replaced since 2019. The Joint Finance Committee rejected a further $200 million the governor proposed for the 2025-27 state budget, although that budget raised Environmental Improvement Fund borrowing by $731.6 million to secure federal water grants.

Source: WDIO, Oct. 22

BIZ  Wildcat Defense will buy the Superior shipyard owned by Fraser Industries and plans to invest $350 million in it. Fraser Industries announced the sale on Oct. 21. The buyer is part of Wildcat Equity Partners of Miami. Fraser Industries is the parent of Fraser Shipyards, Lake Assault Boats, Northern Engineering, and Fraser Terminal, and the yard has built boats since 1890. It repairs the Great Lakes commercial fleet, builds police, fire, and U.S. Navy patrol boats, and holds contracts for 30 boats this year. The Fraser leadership team stays on. Wildcat Equity Partners chairman and chief executive Eric Nicolaides said the buyer wants to grow a year-round workforce of 200, and that modernization of U.S. shipyards should be done by American firms. The city of Superior has worked with Fraser on expansion options through public financing and federal contracts.

Sources: MPR News, Oct. 22; WDIO, Oct. 21

PROJECTS  Grand Forks International Airport broke ground Oct. 22 on a $74 million replacement air traffic control tower that will stand 197 feet. Crews are driving 120 pilings 80 feet to support the tower, which replaces a 98-foot tower built in 1988. The Federal Aviation Administration funded the work through its Air Traffic Control Tower Replacement program and began examining a replacement in December 2024. Airport director Ryan Riesinger said the idea goes back to 2017. The new tower will hold more controllers, new equipment, and a controller simulation system. The airport logged 320,996 takeoffs and landings in 2025. Two runway projects bracket the tower work. A $60 million reconstruction of the primary runway is due in 2028, and a $70 million extension and reconstruction of the crosswind runway finished in 2024.

Source: Grand Forks Herald, Oct. 22

BIZ  LevelTen Energy puts the average North American solar power purchase agreement at $64.23 per megawatt-hour in the third quarter, up 4.9 percent. The marketplace company published the figures on Oct. 21. Solar contract prices are up 6 percent from a year earlier and 12.7 percent since the third quarter of 2024. Wind prices held flat for the quarter and are up 13.8 percent from a year earlier and 27.5 percent since 2024. LevelTen attributes most of the recent increase to tariffs. Its North America transactions director, Sarah Wolf, said Section 232 duties announced in early August could add $3 to $7 per megawatt-hour once they take effect later this year, and that more than half of solar modules have already been repriced. Current rules bar developers from stockpiling modules ahead of the duties. Hyperscale data center buyers took 99 percent of new-build contracts signed in the first quarter, and the count of first-time buyers fell to its lowest level since 2016. An aging renewable fleet has opened a second market as contracts on existing projects expire.

Source: Utility Dive, Oct. 21

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