The (Almost) Daily Brief

Countervailing Duties on Solar Cells From India, Indonesia, and Laos Take Force

By Megan Dayton · 11/9/2026

WORKFORCE  Fifteen percent of Minnesota contractors report workers leaving or missing jobs over immigration enforcement. The Associated General Contractors of America put the question to members in a September survey, and Finance and Commerce reported the Minnesota results on Nov. 4. Ten percent of Minnesota companies said immigration agents had visited a jobsite or an offsite location in the previous six months, and ten percent said subcontractors had lost workers to enforcement actions. The reported effect falls on workforce availability and project schedules. Jac Kovarik, communications coordinator at Centro De Trabajadores Unidos En La Lucha, said workers are more fearful now in general. Adam Hanson, chapter president of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Minnesota and North Dakota, said the temperature around enforcement has lowered since the peak of Operation Metro Surge.

Source: Finance and Commerce, Nov. 4

FUNDING  Three Public Assistance thresholds that decide whether a county qualifies for federal disaster money have risen. The Federal Emergency Management Agency published its annual adjustment notices on Nov. 6 under docket FEMA-2026-0001. The minimum Project Worksheet amount rises to $4,300 for disasters and emergencies declared on or after Oct. 1, 2026. The statewide per capita impact indicator rises to $2.01, and the countywide indicator to $5.03, for disasters with an incident start date on or after that day. The agency based all three on a Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increase of 3.4 percent for the 12 months ended August 2026, released Sept. 11. The countywide indicator governs area designations under 44 CFR 206.40(b). The Project Worksheet floor under 44 CFR 206.202(d)(2) sets the smallest project the agency will approve, which is what decides whether small damage sites are written up individually or bundled.

Source: Federal Register, Nov. 6

BIZ  The Dodge Momentum Index fell 9.0 percent in October to 260.4, with commercial planning down 13.4 percent. Dodge Construction Network issued the reading on Nov. 6 against a downwardly revised September figure of 286.0. Commercial building fell to 279.4 from 322.8, and institutional building to 236.9 from 240.4, a decline of 1.5 percent. Measured against October 2025 the index is down 2.4 percent, with commercial down 17.6 percent and institutional up 33.4 percent. Removing data centers, the commercial segment would be down 16.6 percent from year-ago levels, given the surge in activity late in 2025. Sarah Martin, director of economic research at the network, said data center activity fluctuates considerably from month to month. A total of 23 projects valued at $100 million or more entered planning during October. The index tracks the three-month moving value of nonresidential building projects going into planning, and it leads nonresidential construction spending by a year to 18 months.

Source: Dodge Construction Network, Nov. 6

FUNDING  Fiscal 2027 airport entitlement funds go out of reach for the year unless a sponsor declares intent by Feb. 26. The Federal Aviation Administration published the annual national deadline on Nov. 6 at 91 FR 70117, issued Oct. 29. Each sponsor must notify its FAA regional airports division or airports district office in writing by Feb. 26, 2027, stating the total amount planned for eligible projects during the fiscal year and confirming which projects in its current capital improvement plan will proceed. The requirement sits in 49 U.S.C. 47105(f). Undeclared apportioned funds are carried over and protected after that date, but they stay unavailable to the sponsor until the next fiscal year. Entitlement-only grant applications are due on or before Apr. 30, 2027, and should rest on construction bids or negotiated agreements, though estimates are allowed. State aviation agencies in the State Block Grant Program must notify by the same date. Applications have to satisfy National Environmental Policy Act and Buy American requirements.

Source: Federal Register, Nov. 6

POLICY  One policy statement now collects eleven recurring rail preemption questions, including utilities in the right-of-way and road crossings of rail lines. The Surface Transportation Board issued the statement in Docket EP 791, final Nov. 9. It synthesizes Board and court precedent on jurisdiction and preemption under the ICC Termination Act of 1995, and the fact patterns it covers include abandonment of rail property interests, complete takings of carrier property, utilities and pipelines within the right-of-way, blocked crossings, pedestrian and road crossings, locomotive idling, environmental permitting, zoning ordinances, and land use laws, nuisance claims, the design, construction, and maintenance of rail infrastructure, breach of contract, and routing of traffic. The statement separates categorical preemption, which applies where a state or local law regulates rail transportation or where a permit requirement could be used to prevent it, from as-applied preemption, which applies where a regulation unreasonably burdens rail transportation or discriminates against carriers. It states that states and localities are barred from requiring an environmental permit for construction of ancillary track, even though the Board conducts no environmental review of that track. Six railroad and shipper organizations asked for the guidance in a letter on Sept. 19, 2025.

Source: Federal Register, Nov. 9

FUNDING  Conditional awards on up to 40 electric vehicle charging grants land by Dec. 30. MnDOT closed the third National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure request for proposals on Nov. 2 and is now scoring responsive applications, with no more than one award per cluster. The department calls the Dec. 30 date tentative and dependent on the volume of applications received. A separate Minnesota Department of Commerce Electric School Bus Grant Program runs until Dec. 31 at 5pm and carries two tracks. The equipment track covers bus purchase or repowering plus charging infrastructure, and the planning and technical assistance track funds transition plans and assistance preparing federal grant applications. Commerce covers 80 to 90 percent of bus purchase costs and 65 to 95 percent of other eligible expenses, with planning and technical assistance awards available up to $27,000 and $1.7 million available across both tracks. The ninth charging station under the federal program opened at a Kwik Trip in Saint Michael along Interstate 94.

Source: MnDOT, Nov. 9

ENG  Briefing papers will reach parties two weeks ahead of agenda meetings starting in January. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission announced the change in its November newsletter. The new schedule starts in January 2027 and carries limited exceptions. Those papers summarize the record and guide the Commission toward a decision, so parties and the public get earlier sight of the analysis behind a vote. The Commission also restated that parties and participants should submit comments and other information during open comment periods, citing Minn. R. 7829.0420, so that no party is prejudiced by untimely material. The Commission logged 1,960 filings in October.

Source: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission newsletter, November 2026

POLICY  A natural gas rate increase for Xcel Energy lands at $36.9 million, against the $63.4 million the company asked for. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved the final increase on Nov. 6 in Docket 25-356. The approved increase is 4.8 percent and Xcel Energy had requested 8.2 percent. The Commission put return on equity at 9.3 percent, rejecting the higher figure Xcel proposed and the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota supported. Xcel, the Department of Commerce, the Citizens Utility Board, the Suburban Rate Authority, and LIUNA had jointly filed a partial settlement, and the Office of the Attorney General Residential Utilities Division did not join it. The Commission approved most of that agreement, then adopted the Attorney General and administrative law judge recommendations on return on equity and other rate-setting components. The adjustments reached depreciation, manufactured gas plant and damage-prevention costs, technology services, rate case expenses, and a pension expense tracker. The Commission states that final rates will fall below the interim increase of $51.5 million, or 6.8 percent, so customers will receive a refund, with the amount calculated in the coming months.

Source: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Nov. 6

WORKFORCE  Construction payrolls fell by 3,000 in October while professional and technical services added 33,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the October employment situation on Nov. 6. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000. The unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent. The release groups construction among the industries showing little change over the month, and its summary table carries the construction decline of 3,000. Employment continued to trend up in professional, scientific, and technical services, the category that carries most consulting engineering staff.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nov. 6

PROJECTS  Draft concepts for White Bear Avenue between Suburban and Maryland Avenues reach an open house on Nov. 12. Ramsey County is running the corridor study on County State Aid Highway 65 in Saint Paul and will take feedback at Hazel Park Recreation Center, 945 Hazel Street North, from 5pm to 7pm. An online survey runs through Nov. 20. The study coordinates with the planned H Line and Bronze Line transit investments, and the county has set four phases running from summer 2026 into spring 2027. The study will produce a preliminary design, with final design and implementation beginning in 2029.

Source: Ramsey County, White Bear Avenue Corridor Study

ENG  Minnesota carried 34,048 distributed energy resource systems at the end of 2025, totaling 1.86 gigawatts of nameplate capacity. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission published the 2025 distributed energy resources data dashboard and reported the figures in its November newsletter. The Commission states the capacity in gigawatts alternating current. The dashboard breaks the fleet down by resource type, customer type, and utility, and the Commission publishes progress charts alongside an Excel file of the underlying data. For firms doing interconnection and distribution work, the utility and resource-type splits are the part that shows where the fleet is actually growing.

Source: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission newsletter, November 2026

BIZ  Backlog at WSP reached a record $20.3 billion in Canadian dollars, up 23.5 percent from a year earlier. The firm reported third-quarter results on Nov. 4. Revenues came in at $5.29 billion, up 16.6 percent, and net revenues at $4.23 billion, up 22.1 percent, with organic net revenue growth of 5.1 percent and organic backlog growth of 5.0 percent over twelve months. Net earnings attributable to shareholders were $333.7 million against $284.5 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA margin reached 20.5 percent for the quarter. President and chief executive Alexandre L’Heureux said the firm’s positioning across its end markets and regions is stronger than ever, and the company narrowed its full-year net revenue range to $16.3 billion to $16.65 billion. Speaking to Construction Dive, he described a lag between award, funding authorization, and the start of work on public-sector jobs, which he attributed to federal funding reviews and permitting.

Sources: WSP Global, Q3 2026 results, Nov. 4; Construction Dive, Nov. 6

PROJECTS  Realignment of 500 linear feet of Keene Creek at Okerstrom Road moves to a draft water quality certification now open for comment. South Saint Louis SWCD proposes the realignment in Saint Louis County, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency posted the draft Clean Water Act section 401 certification on Nov. 9. The design adds a 21-inch by 15-inch concrete arch floodplain culvert alongside the existing culvert carrying Okerstrom Road, which is not being replaced. The agency states that mitigation is not required. Comments close Nov. 23. A section 401 certification becomes an enforceable component of the federal license or permit issued for the work, which is why its conditions matter to whoever carries the design.

Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Nov. 9

The (Almost) Daily Brief publishes most weekdays: policy, funding, workforce, and industry news for Minnesota’s engineering firms, in a few minutes of reading. 

Browse past editions or subscribe →