POLICY A new federal order bars grid equipment tied to foreign adversaries. Executive Order 14420, signed Aug. 26, declares a national emergency over the bulk-power system and prohibits the acquisition, importation, transfer, or installation of covered equipment supplied by entities owned or controlled by governments subject to U.S. arms embargoes under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. That list includes China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela, and the Energy Secretary can add to it. The equipment categories run to substation transformers, reactors, capacitors, high-voltage circuit breakers, protective relaying, metering, generators and turbines, inverters, battery storage systems, and industrial control systems including programmable logic controllers. The prohibition applies to transactions initiated after Aug. 26. Facilities used only in local distribution are excluded, which puts the reach at transmission-level equipment rated 69 kV and above. The Department of Energy has 120 days, to late December, to publish implementing rules, set licensing procedures, and identify additional covered entities. The order also lets the Secretary impose conditions on equipment already installed, up to isolation or removal. The Edison Electric Institute said utilities will work with the department on implementation. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association asked for more clarity on how the order treats software and digital products.
Sources: Norton Rose Fulbright, Project Finance NewsWire, Aug. 26; Utility Dive, Aug. 27
FUNDING Texas adopted a 10-year program that assumes federal money shrinks. The Texas Transportation Commission approved a $138 billion Unified Transportation Program on Aug. 26 covering fiscal 2027 through 2036. Of that, $95 billion is set for projects and $43 billion for project development and routine maintenance. Project funding falls 6.5 percent from the prior plan. TxDOT cut its revenue forecast by $4.4 billion, and its fiscal 2027 assumption is that federal funding returns to the levels authorized before the infrastructure law rather than continuing at the higher levels that law provides. The current authorization expires Sept. 30.
Source: Engineering News-Record, Aug. 27
BIZ Minnesota deal volume is running at a 30-year high. Through July 31, Minnesota companies had 306 acquisitions completed or on the table, valued at $54.4 billion, a figure that already beats 10 of the past 15 full years. Dealogic projects the state finishes 2026 at $92 billion across 519 deals, which would pass the $90 billion recorded in 2021. Global first-half volume hit a record $3.2 trillion, up 44 percent year over year, with North America accounting for 65 percent of it. Technology drove 27 percent of global volume, diversified industries 20 percent, and health care 11 percent. J.P. Morgan’s global head of mergers and acquisitions, Charlie Bouckaert, described the half as “a clearer pivot from shareholder returns toward reinvestment.” The Minnesota deals include Merck KGaA’s $11.3 billion agreement to acquire Bio-Techne, announced June 25 and one of a record 48 transactions of $10 billion or more in the first half. IonQ closed its $1.8 billion purchase of Bloomington-based SkyWater Technology on July 31. Ecolab closed a $4.75 billion acquisition of CoolIT, a Canadian maker of liquid cooling for AI data centers. Allegiant Travel completed a $1.5 billion acquisition of Sun Country in May, which retires the brand and the local headquarters designation with it.
ENG MnDOT wants industry comment on a Bridge Construction Manual rewrite by Monday. The department has posted a draft scope for a Bridge Construction Manual updates project under its notices for industry review and feedback, with a deadline of Aug. 31. An informational webinar ran Aug. 4. The manual sets the field procedures for state bridge construction. Three professional/technical solicitations close Aug. 28: final design for SP 2735-212 on Highway 100, materials and guidance to maximize weather services contract value, and a laboratory assessment of pre-wetting application rates. A separate Dakota County request for industry comment on the County Road 50 and Interstate 35 interchange design remains posted without a date.
Source: MnDOT, Professional/Technical Consultant Services notices
ENG A parked semi rolled into an open excavation on a live pipeline. The unoccupied truck struck exposed pipe at an Enbridge Line 5 valve project on Sitan Road in rural Iron County, Wisconsin, near Saxon, on Aug. 25. The strike released natural gas liquids, the ethane, propane, butane, and natural gasoline fraction, and responders evacuated nearby homes, closed Sitan Road indefinitely, shut down power in the area, and put a temporary flight restriction over the site. Enbridge isolated the segment and sent emergency crews. The Iron County Sheriff’s Office and hazardous-materials teams responded. No injuries were reported.
Source: Northern News Now, Aug. 25
ENG Saint Cloud is moving two bonded downtown projects into design. The city is putting $6.4 million in state bonding, approved by the Legislature in May, against a combined $13.1 million budget with city matching funds. The 5th Avenue South campus and downtown connection carries $3.4 million and would reconfigure the street from Division Street to University Drive with new traffic and bike lanes, sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, lighting, streetscaping, wayfinding, and resurfacing. The Mississippi Riverwalk connection carries $3 million and would convert a road-dominated shoreline along 5th Avenue North into a linear park with multi-use trails, vegetated buffers, parking, water access, and restored natural areas. Public input runs through 2026 and 2027. Construction starts in late 2027 and finishes in 2028.
Source: KNSI, Aug. 27
Two programs are open for registration - the 2026 M&A Summit on Wednesday, September 16 for firm leaders weighing ownership transition, and the four-session Emerging Leaders program for early-career staff this October and November. Sign up for both before spots fill up!
The (Almost) Daily Brief publishes most weekdays: policy, funding, workforce, and industry news for Minnesota’s engineering firms, in a few minutes of reading.