News & Notes

After more than six years, including a two-year spate of pandemic-related and other delays, on June 7, 2025, the City of Phoenix, Arizona celebrated the opening of its much-anticipated light rail expansion.

The City of Phoenix reported that a crowd of over 5,000, plus state, local, and federal officials gathered to cheer the completion of the South Central Extension/Downtown Hub (SCE/DH). The city lauded the “historic milestone” for Valley Metro Rail’s growth into a 35-mile, two line system, which expects to carry and additional 8,000 riders per day.

Previously, the city operated a single “L-shaped line,” which has now evolved to an A-Line, traveling east-west and a B-line, traveling north-south, with a total of 48 stops along both lines. The new stops, tracks, and infrastructure are expected to increase the public transit’s capacity to 40,000 daily riders. The public can start taking the new trains mid to late June.

Kiewit, based in Omaha, Nebraska, won the bid to build the expansion, with AECOM handling the design, which also included a new park & ride facility, pedestrian pathways, bike lanes, and a downtown transit hub, plus more that 550 trees and desert-dwelling landscaping.

“The project includes several key upgrades, including an overhead catenary system, 12 new stations, four in the downtown hub and eight between downtown & Baseline Road – along with two park-and-rides at Broadway and Baseline Roads. Major infrastructure components include embedded track work, five new traction power substations, signals at crossovers and gated intersections, extensive underground utility relocations, communication systems and ticket vending machines,” Kiewit said in a website statement.

To say that this project was long-awaited is an understatement. Planning began in 2012, and AECOM began designing in 2017. Construction finally launched in 2019 with an anticipated end date in 2023, but COVID-19, the need to relocated utilities unexpectedly, and even an attempt to halt the project at the ballot box slowed progress.

According to reporting in azcentral, the new Valley Rail extension will served “a historically underinvested part of the city, where 44% of residents have limited or no access to personal vehicles.” Funding was a multi-layered partnership with Federal grants providing more than 50% of the funds, with additions form Phoenix Transportation 2050 and regional Proposition 400 funds, according to Construction Dive.

The city of Phoenix lists the creation of over 5,000 local jobs, various community upgrades, and the replacement of some 30 miles of underground infrastructure among the project’s benefits. As well as the prioritization of utilizing locally owned small businesses as part of a “first-of-its-kind grant program, The Small Business Financial Assistance Program.

Valley Metro CEO Jessica Mefford-Miller said at the opening, “Today we are celebrating 5.5 new rail miles and the transformation of Valley Metro Rail into a multi-line operation, creating an important new connection to South Phoenix. We built this project with the community to achieve their vision, and we will continue to we advance the community’s vision to connect to the West and East Valleys, and bring greater mobility and economic opportunity to more of metro Phoenix. I congratulate and thank the community and our teams for today’s successful opening!”

To learn more about the potential future of U.S. light rail initiatives, you can read more, here.

Researchers at Northwestern University announced they have developed a new “non-toxic material” that is resistant to both water and oil, is sustainable, affordable, and could take the place of plastics in food packaging to help eliminate harmful per and polyfluoroalkyl components (PFAS).

The new material, a graphene oxide derivative, is reportedly “environmentally friendly and affordable,” according to reporting in Water Online, and has been developed in cooperation with GO-Eco, a subsidiary of Chang Robotics and part of Northwestern’s Querry InQbation Lab, aka, The Q. GO-Eco is already looking at going to market with the discovery.

Touted as “A Market Ready Replacement for PFAS” by Forbes, reporting that the as-yet-to be named graphene oxide product may be “the first truly safe, sustainable, and effective alternative to PFAS in food packaging.” 

This is not just a materials innovation; it’s a market-ready solution,” co-developer Timothy Wei told Water Online. “We are thrilled to be taking GO-Eco from the lab to the factory floor, with applications that could ultimately transform the entire food packaging industry.”

How is PFAS in food packaging, anyway?
According to the GO-Eco team, some 14 million metric tons of paper-based food packaging and cardboard is produced in the U.S. annually, which are often coated in foil, plastic, or PFAS to help them stand up to the water & oil in the foods they hold. Although there is mounting regulatory pressure to reduce or remove PFAS from food packaging, the $60 billion in annual sales of these treated food packages proves how pernicious the problem can be. And according to the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine, biometric surveys have determined that nearly every American (98%) has detectable amounts of forever chemicals like PFAS in their bodies and blood.

Forever chemicals, like PFAS do not break down and simply transfer from item to item, or into water, soil, and our bodies. Studies have linked them to hormone disruption, immune system effects, and even cancer, as per Forbes. PFAS have been widely used in everything from Teflon, stain resistant carpets, and as fire commercial fire retardants in military and commercial facilities, where they have leeched into the earth and surrounding water tables.

You can watch Change Robotics discuss Go-Eco’s graphene oxide material in this video.

From a surprising source, the U.K. Ministry of Defence, comes the news that The Royal Navy may soon have a new tool to “deal with sabotage threats and clear legacy unexploded ordnance,” and which the Pipeline & Gas Journal reports could also “protect critical infrastructure like pipelines and cables.”

In fact, the June 9, 2025 press release from the Ministry’s Defence and Technology Laboratory is entitled “Underwater Robot Could Improve Pipeline and Cable Security,” and states that the laboratory, known in England as the Dstl, has successfully adapted a commercial remote operated vehicle (ROV) to be able to detect unexploded ordnance, and remotely neutralize it.

“This unique capability with its sensors, tools and cameras will give operators a real time ability to deal with these underwater hazards in a safe, effective and efficient way,” said the government, which reports that successful trials have taken place Horsea Island in Portsmouth, Portland Harbour, South Wales, and Norway.

The project, funded by the Royal Navy in partnership with Alford Technologies, Atlantas Marine, Sonardyne, and ECS Special Projects, is described in P&GJOnline as a “robot” that can achieve depths far greater than human divers, can stay at high pressure for longer periods, be used repeatedly, and can be teamed-up with other ROVs/robots for complex maneuvers.

The potential commercial applications for this technology could be limitless, as the ROVs could be used to clear areas near submerged pipelines, or even underwater utilities, like telecommunications.

As record-breaking severe weather has smashed against Michigan throughout the first half of 2025, one of the state’s largest energy providers has seen early successes from its underground power line pilot program.

According to Underground Infrastructure, Consumers Energy customers within the 9-mile pilot experienced fewer outages and improved overall system reliability compared to overhead-line service areas.

Launched in 2024, the pilot program is part of Consumer Energy’s long-term plans to move more power lines underground, thereby bolstering the company’s infrastructure. Buried power lines are better protected from common outage causes, such as lightning, high winds, tornadoes, heavy snow, ice, and falling tree limbs.

"We are seeing clear, measurable benefits from this pilot program," Chris Laird, Consumers Energy's vice president of electric operations, told the publication. "Not only have we improved reliability for our customers, but we've also reduced emergency repair costs and enhanced public safety."

The pilot program targeted circuits that have frequent, lengthy outages and are in areas with dense trees in Genesee, Livingston, Allegan, Ottawa, Montcalm, and Iosco counties.

"In order for us to continue growing, we need reliable power," said Allegan County Commissioner Scott Beltman. "Consumers Energy is really stepping up to the plate to make (our county) reliable for our residents to live and prosper here."

About 15% of all Consumers Energy electric lines are currently underground. Most of these utilities are in subdivisions and other areas with high population density. The company aims to bury over 1,000 miles of line over the next five years, subject to regulatory approval. As part of this expansion, they’ve already requested to bury an additional 50 miles of overhead power lines beginning in mid-2026.

HVAC maker Carrier claims its new cold climate heat pumps, which were developed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge, can operate efficiently down to -23 degrees Fahrenheit.

According to Facilities Dive, the HVAC manufacturer’s Infinity Variable-Speed Ultimate Cold Heat Pump with Greenspeed Intelligence is engineered to operate reliably down to -23° Fahrenheit with 100% heating capacity at 0°F. The unit is now the highest-rated DOE cold climate heat pump in the market for residential and light-commercial applications – and it is also among the quietest in the industry, exhibiting sound levels as low as 55 decibels, according to the company.

Carrier was one of eight manufacturers to participate in the DOE’s challenge, which launched in 2021. They were one of four that announced plans to bring commercialized versions of the models to the market in 2025, joining Lennox, Bosch and Trane. According to a report by the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the other four manufacturers – Daikin, Johnson Controls, Midea, and Rheem – are expected to finalize commercialization plans in the coming year.

As part of the initiative, all eight manufacturers showcased advanced demand response capabilities in alignment with AHRI 1380—a standard for variable capacity HVAC systems used in residential and small commercial settings—according to a report by DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

“AHRI 1380 was designed to utilize the advanced control capabilities of variable speed HVAC systems paired with smart thermostats,” researchers said in the report, which detailed performance results of the challenge’s field validation. “In this strategy, the heat pump’s compressor and fan speeds are reduced, but the heat pump is still allowed to operate and provide at least some heating/cooling capacity to maintain comfort in the space.”

The pumps aim to reduce energy demand predictably while maintaining comfort, leading to higher user participation and fewer opt-outs, the report states.

These prototypes were among the first U.S. centrally ducted HVAC systems to use low-GWP refrigerants R-32 and R-454B in real-world installations—often the first in their states, researchers noted.

Low-GWP HVAC systems became widely adopted in 2025 due to federal rules phasing out high-GWP refrigerants. Most systems with GWPs over 700 must be installed by early 2026, with commercial VRF systems given until 2027, according to the DOE PNNL report.

PNNL also highlighted future impacts from state and federal policies, noting California and New York plan to adopt ultra-low GWP refrigerants by the mid-2030s.