BIZ Hubbell will start its 2027 price increases in November. Chief Financial Officer Joe Capozzoli told investors on the equipment maker’s Oct. 27 third-quarter earnings call that the company is implementing the increases early to cover cost inflation and hold margins. Sales of electrical equipment to data centers rose past 80 percent year over year in the quarter, beyond the company’s own expectation for the year, and organic sales in its Electrical Solutions segment rose 22 percent. Utility Solutions organic sales rose 5 percent, an 8 percent gain in grid infrastructure offset by a 4 percent decline in grid automation that Chief Executive Gerben Bakker attributed to slowing sales of substation control houses and a metering-component shortage he expects resolved by the end of the year. The company puts $25 million per quarter into added manufacturing capacity and will double that to $50 million per quarter next year, most of it serving transmission, substation, and data center markets. GE Vernova said on its Oct. 28 call that it will buy high-voltage equipment maker Trench Group for $9 billion to bring transformer bushings in-house, and Chief Executive Scott Strazik put bushings at 5 to 8 percent of a transformer bill of materials. A Department of Energy-funded study published in August found procurement of a 100-MVA large power transformer takes 2.5 to three years, and extra-high-voltage units as long as five, naming bushings, grain-oriented electrical steel, copper conductors, and on-load tap changers as constrained components. GE Vernova projects that more than 55,000 U.S. transmission substations will need complete rebuilds or higher-voltage upgrades over the next decade.
Sources: Utility Dive, Hubbell third-quarter earnings call; Engineering News-Record, GE Vernova and Trench Group
PROJECTS Mound awarded its water treatment plant contract $7 million below the engineering estimate. The city council approved a $17.8 million bid from Gridor Construction on Oct. 13 for a 13,050-square-foot plant to treat manganese and iron in the city’s water supply, against an earlier engineering estimate of $24.8 million. Matt Bauman of Bolton & Menk, the city engineering consultant, said seven contractors bid between $17.8 million and $19.9 million, and attributed the lower bids to contractors seeking work ahead of the 2027 construction season, slower commercial and industrial development, and favorable material costs. Brian Simmons, senior city engineer with the firm, pointed to a comparable Waconia plant awarded in August at $6.5 million under the engineering estimate there. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2027 and run through late 2028 at a city-owned site behind Sorbo Park. The plant budget adds $250,000 for power and gas connections, $890,000 of contingency, and $1.9 million for engineering and administration, reaching $20.8 million, inside a total project estimate of $31.1 million that includes $10.3 million of site preparation and infrastructure work.
Source: Laker Pioneer, Oct. 29
POLICY The Oregon Department of Transportation has put 20 or more fiber-optic right-of-way permit applications on hold under a data center order. Governor Tina Kotek’s September executive order directed state agencies to pause approving new or pending leases, easements, and right-of-way permits for data centers sited on state property and lands. The transportation agency then held fiber-optic applications from three companies, according to records it released to the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Spokesperson Kevin Glenn said the applications cover installation of a large amount of buried broadband or fiber conduit on state right of way, typically along the highway shoulder, and that this indicated a potential connection to data centers. The agency has asked the companies to describe their projects, Glenn said, and has set no deadline for them to respond. Zayo Group Holdings of Denver holds nine of the paused permits, covering cable from Morrow to Multnomah counties and between Wheeler and Clackamas counties. Lumen holds nine, from Wasco to Umatilla, Baker, Lincoln, Linn, and Malheur counties, and owns six data centers in the state. Intermountain Infrastructure Group of California holds two, for an expansion into Umatilla County, and owns no Oregon data centers. Khara Boender, West Coast director of government affairs for the Data Center Coalition, said pausing work midstream “sends a concerning signal to companies weighing long-term investment.”
ENG Wabasha will take 250,000 cubic yards of Mississippi River dredged sand and rock per year under a Section 217 agreement. Crews from the city moved the first loads this month off temporary sand piles on the Wisconsin side of the river across from Reeds Landing to a city-owned port, where the material is headed for a former gravel pit or city use. A new $4.6 million city port and terminal, built with a Port Development Assistance Program grant through the Minnesota Department of Transportation, will receive the sand and rock the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges near Wabasha each year to hold the 9-foot navigation channel Congress required in 1930. Bob Edstrom, a project manager in the Corps Saint Paul District, said Wabasha takes disposal fee revenue under the agreement. John Friedmeyer, Wabasha Port Authority president, said the local and federal agreement was the first of its kind in inland waters. The district had planned in 2017 to place the sand on a fourth-generation family farm south of Wabasha through eminent domain, burying the property in 15 feet of sand. It dropped that plan after community opposition. Later proposals drew objections from Upper Mississippi River National Fish and Wildlife Refuge officials.
Source: Post Bulletin, Oct. 29
POLICY EPA moves to rescind the Super Emitter Program for oil and natural gas sources. The proposed rule published Oct. 29 at 91 FR 68234 would amend the New Source Performance Standards and the Emission Guidelines for the crude oil and natural gas source category, answering petitions for reconsideration of amendments the agency finalized in March 2024. Alongside the rescission, the agency proposes to subcategorize well sites to address requirements finalized in March 2024 for marginal and conventional well sites. It also proposes changes covering liquids unloading, process controllers, pumps, fugitive emissions, storage vessels, covers and closed vent systems, equipment leaks at gas plants, and associated gas. A further set of changes would revise control-device requirements and let owners and operators run optical gas imaging surveys under Appendix K at gas processing facilities. Comments close Dec. 16 under docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0163, and the agency has set a virtual public hearing for Nov. 13. The agency asks that comments on the information-collection provisions reach the Office of Management and Budget by Nov. 30.
PROJECTS Hibbing Public Utilities finished a $3 million rebuild of its Beltline substation. The municipal utility marked completion on Oct. 29, replacing equipment dating to the 1950s. The rebuilt substation carries protections against wildlife and severe weather and can be divided into smaller sections, so crews can isolate a fault and limit the number of customers an outage reaches. Hibbing Public Utilities Commission chair James Bayliss tied the work to outages in the 2010s. General Manager Larry Folstad, in his fourth week, said the utility is working to align its five-year capital plan with the city. The substation is the third the utility has rebuilt in two years.
Source: WDIO, Oct. 29
POLICY Superior Water, Light and Power sued the City of Superior over the ballot language for a water utility takeover. The suit, filed in Douglas County Circuit Court, seeks a declaratory judgment that the question the city council approved is improper, invalid, and contrary to state law, and asks the court to keep it off the April 2027 ballot in its current form. The utility argues the wording is vague and misleading and fails to say whether a favorable vote would bind the city or only advise it, taking particular issue with the word “should” and with conditional language it says prevents a binding outcome. It also asks the court to rule that a majority yes vote would not legally authorize an acquisition. Mayor Jim Paine called the challenge “an obvious attempt to stop an election,” and said the city expects the question on the ballot. The question as drafted asks whether the city should acquire the water utility if its value, as determined by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, falls within the city’s financial means. The utility, an ALLETE subsidiary serving Superior and northwestern Wisconsin since 1889, counts 10,000 water customers alongside 15,000 electric and 13,000 natural gas customers.
Source: WDIO, Oct. 29
BIZ Mobile, Alabama, sent a $14.7 million construction payment to a fraudulent account after a months-long impersonation of its contractor. The payment, owed to Birmingham-based B.L. Harbert International under its $237 million contract for the $300 million Regions Arena, went out Oct. 2. City officials reconstructed the scheme at pre-council and council meetings on Oct. 27, which Engineering News-Record reviewed from recordings of the publicly livestreamed sessions. The approach began in late May with false documents to the finance department, and over the following months the impostor used the names of real people in emails, calls, and document exchanges until the contractor’s vendor information was changed. Two months into the correspondence, a city employee sent the impostor a genuine B.L. Harbert invoice. Finance Director Logan Gewin Jr. said the exchange of a real invoice with a fake vendor helped legitimize the communication as it moved up the chain. B.L. Harbert questioned the missing payment Oct. 7, and city officials did not establish the money was stolen until Oct. 16. The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service are investigating, and the city says its computer systems were not breached. Mobile replaced the payment with $15 million of Regions Arena owner contingency. The city had recovered money from a similar vendor-payment fraud months earlier and tightened its procedures, after the changes that enabled this impersonation had already been made.
Source: Engineering News-Record
State
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources · Construction administration, Minnesota Valley Nine Mile (5151) · Due Nov. 4 · notice
Minnesota Department of Health · North and northeast Minnesota source water assessments (5152) · Due Nov. 4 · notice
Minnesota Department of Transportation · Final design, Highway 61 from CSAH 14 to Reservation River Road, Cook County (contract 1064419) · Due Nov. 5, 2pm · notice
State Historic Preservation Office · Minnesota River cultural resources survey (5126, 5131) · Due Nov. 9 and Nov. 15 · notice
State Historic Preservation Office · Roseau River cultural resources survey (5127, 5132) · Due Nov. 9 and Nov. 15 · notice
Minnesota Department of Transportation · Active transportation planning and implementation assistance (contract 1064027) · Due Nov. 13, 2pm · notice
Minnesota Department of Transportation · General engineering consultant for preconstruction services master contract (1263) · Due Nov. 17, 2pm · notice
Minnesota Department of Transportation · Alternative cementitious and re-recycled materials in concrete pavements research (contract 1064490) · Due Nov. 19 · notice
Minnesota Department of Administration · Design for building automation system upgrades, Minnesota Correctional Facility (5162) · Due Nov. 23 · notice
Minnesota Department of Administration · Design to replace Bureau of Criminal Apprehension laboratory controls (5160) · Due Nov. 24 · notice
Minnesota Department of Transportation · Spot Mobility Implementation Analysis, Metro District, letters of interest · Due Nov. 30 · notice
Counties
Washington County · Design, CSAH 18 at CSAH 19 roundabout modifications (bid 825) · Due Nov. 6, 3pm · notice
Washington County · Final design engineering services (bid 827) · Due Nov. 6, 3pm · notice
Washington County · 2027 construction services (bid 829) · Due Nov. 18, 3pm · notice
Cities
City of Chatfield · City hall geothermal and building electrification feasibility study, statement of qualifications · Due Oct. 30 · notice
City of Hutchinson · Safe Streets and Roads for All action plan · Due Nov. 12, 1pm · notice
City of Dassel · Architectural and engineering design for a new fire hall · Due Nov. 20, 2pm · notice
City of Saint Paul · Kellogg Capital City Bikeway phase 3 (Event 1775) · Due Nov. 20, 3pm · notice
City of Credit River · General planning services, statement of qualifications · Due Nov. 25 · notice
Federal
U.S. Forest Service · Dakota Skipper habitat survey and mapping, North Dakota · Due Nov. 4, 5pm · notice
U.S. Army Reserve, 88th Readiness Division · Energy savings performance contract, notice of opportunity · Due Nov. 9, 3pm · notice
Anticipated
MnDOT District 6 · Traffic support services for preliminary and final design, studies, and funding applications · Verified Oct. 28 · notice
MnDOT TSMO/CAV · CAV Challenge · Verified Oct. 28 · notice
MnDOT Bridge Office · Bridge preservation design, SP 2735-212, five bridges · Verified Oct. 14 · notice
MnDOT Metro Bridge Maintenance · Post-tensioning grout investigation scoping, SP 8825-1296 · Verified Oct. 13 · notice
MnDOT Metro District Planning · Highway 55 Golden Valley to Medina reconnecting communities study · Verified Oct. 9 · notice
MnDOT District 2 · Final design, US 75 and MN 11 at Kennedy and Donaldson reconstruction · Verified Oct. 6 · notice
MnDOT Metro Utilities · Metro-wide potholing, quality level A utility locates · Verified Oct. 2 · notice
MnDOT Metro District Signs and Markings · Multi-award overhead sign structure and sign panel design, SP 8825-1340 and SP 8825-1341 · Verified Oct. 1 · notice
MnDOT Metro Area Managers · I-35E spot mobility corridor study ahead of SP 1982-207 · Verified Sept. 23 · notice
MnDOT Metro Rethinking I-94 · Environmental impact statement contract, SP 6282-217 · Verified Sept. 23 · notice
MnDOT Metro District Project Management · Highway 61 Forest Lake pre-scoping, layout and preliminary plans · Verified Sept. 23 · notice
MnDOT Metro Area Managers · Highway 52, Highway 55, and County Road 42 phase two study · Verified Sept. 23 · notice
MnDOT Metro District · Highway 52 Lafayette Bridge alternatives analysis and preliminary design · Verified Sept. 23 · notice
MnDOT Metro District Planning · MN 95 southern Washington County corridor planning study · Verified Sept. 23 · notice
MnDOT Metro Mendota Construction · Construction administration team, SP 6217-50 Robert Street · Verified Sept. 23 · notice
MnDOT District 3 · MN 23 and I-94 Rockville interchange traffic safety and pre-design study · Verified Sept. 11 · notice
MnDOT District 3 · US 169 Elk River to Princeton traffic safety pre-design study · Verified Sept. 11 · notice
MnDOT Metro District Planning · MN 51 Snelling Avenue planning coordination and study · Verified Aug. 4 · notice
MnDOT Bridge Office · Bridge construction manual development · Verified Jul. 30 · notice
MnDOT Office of Sustainability and Public Health · Project-level emission reduction methodology for the Carbon Emissions Tool · Verified May 28 · notice
MnDOT Bridge Office · Bridge management plans, Mendota Bridge and Winona Truss among them · Verified Apr. 29 · notice
MnDOT Metro District Project Management · Project staging scoping assistance · Verified Dec. 22, 2025 · notice
Minnesota
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission · Granite City battery storage site permit application (ESS-26-248) · comments close Nov. 3 · notice
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission · Castle Rock battery storage draft site permit (ESS-25-430) · comments close Nov. 4, 4:30pm · notice
Olmsted County and Rochester · South Branch Cascade Creek stream restoration environmental assessment worksheet · comments close Nov. 5 · notice
City of Buffalo · Buffalo downtown redevelopment environmental assessment worksheet · comments close Nov. 12 · notice
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency · Draft municipal separate storm sewer system general permit · comments close Nov. 19 · notice
White Bear Township · Great Northern industrial development environmental assessment worksheet · comments close Nov. 19 · notice
Metropolitan Airports Commission · Assessment of environmental effects, preliminary 2027-2033 capital improvement program · comments close Nov. 20, 4pm · notice
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources · Hill Annex historic properties removal and scram mining environmental assessment worksheet · comments close Nov. 26 · notice
Mankato Regional Airport · Kasota Stone Fabricators Lime Township pit expansion environmental assessment worksheet · comments close Nov. 26 · notice
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission · PowerOn Midwest certificate of need, environmental report and public hearings (25-117) · comments close Dec. 7, 4:30pm · notice
Minnesota Department of Transportation · Highway 252 and I-94 federal and state draft environmental impact statements · comments close Dec. 22 · notice
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency · City of Cedar Mills wastewater permit reissuance · comments close Dec. 22 · notice
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency · City of Isanti wastewater permit reissuance · comments close Dec. 22 · notice
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency · City of Credit River Territory wastewater permit reissuance (MN0066826) · comments close Dec. 28 · notice
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency · Metropolitan Council Mississippi basin total phosphorus permit reissuance (MN0070629) · comments close Dec. 28 · notice
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources · Public waters inventory update for Pine County · comments close Dec. 31, 4:30pm · notice
Federal
Federal Highway Administration · Proposed memorandum of understanding assigning environmental responsibilities to Georgia · comments close Nov. 2 · notice
U.S. Department of Agriculture · Rural Energy for America Program final rule · comments close Nov. 2 · notice
General Services Administration · Acquisition regulation case 2026-G502, utility services · comments close Nov. 4 · notice
Environmental Protection Agency · Initial air quality designations for the 2024 fine particulate matter standard · comments close Nov. 5 · notice
Federal Emergency Management Agency · Elevation and floodproofing certificate information collection · comments close Nov. 6 · notice
Department of Homeland Security · Optional practical training fees · comments close Nov. 9 · notice
Department of Homeland Security · Removing deference to prior eligibility determinations · comments close Nov. 13 · notice
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · Draft policy statement on air dispersion modeling in gas project reviews (PL26-3-000) · comments close Nov. 16, 5pm eastern · notice
Federal Transit Administration · Proposed Capital Investment Grants policy guidance · comments close Nov. 16 · notice
Federal Communications Commission · Section 106 undertaking scope for communications infrastructure (WT 25-217) · comments close Nov. 18 · notice
Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Transit Administration · Utah application and draft memorandum of understanding on environmental responsibilities · comments close Nov. 19 · notice
Environmental Protection Agency · Greenhouse gas reporting deadline extension for reporting year 2025 · comments close Nov. 30 · notice
Environmental Protection Agency · Utah underground injection control program, Class VI primacy · comments close Dec. 7 · notice
Environmental Protection Agency · Additional reconsideration of the oil and natural gas performance standards and emission guidelines · comments close Dec. 16 · notice
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · Authorizations for certain activities at liquefied natural gas plants (RM26-2-001) · comments close Dec. 21 · notice
The (Almost) Daily Brief publishes most weekdays: policy, funding, workforce, and industry news for Minnesota’s engineering firms, in a few minutes of reading.