Last week, The Nature Conservancy announced plans to spend $168 million to buy four hydroelectric dams on the lower Kennebec River from Brookfield Renewable—dams located between Waterville and Skowhegan. Their eventual goal is removal.
This is bad news for electric bills, property taxes, the greater Skowhegan area, and Maine’s economy.
Good jobs at risk
Sappi’s Somerset Mill in Skowhegan employs nearly 800 people and supports thousands more across Maine’s forest products industry. That mill depends on the Shawmut Dam for its intake and wastewater systems. It has invested over $500 million in upgrades in just the past decade—growth now put at risk.
Higher costs, fewer renewables
Removing these dams would strip 46 megawatts of renewable hydropower from Maine’s grid at a time when energy prices are already at record highs. Federal regulators just last year cited New England’s urgent electricity needs as reason to keep these dams licensed and operating.
The removal would also cost Waterville, Skowhegan, Winslow, and Fairfield more than half a billion dollars in lost property tax revenue each year.
The wrong direction for Maine
The Nature Conservancy claims it will work with agencies to preserve the impoundment and protect mill operations. But make no mistake—tearing down the Shawmut Dam means fewer jobs, higher electric bills, higher taxes, and less clean energy.
Instead of eliminating jobs and renewable power, Maine should focus on solutions that allow fisheries to thrive without sacrificing our economy.
The takeover of the Shawmut Dam, and the threat it poses to the Somerset Mill, is one more reason why Maine is becoming increasingly unaffordable for working families.
Legislative Republicans will keep fighting for policies that lower energy costs, protect jobs, and keep Maine livable for people of average means.
This has been Representative Jennifer Poirier with the Weekly Republican Address.
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