Four takeaways from Maine Monitor series on Maine dams

A three-part series recently published by The Maine Monitor explored the future of Maine’s deteriorating dams as they face growing threats from climate change and fall out of favor for public investment. With the average Maine dam built over a century ago, more and more dam owners have to confront what to do with these deteriorating structures, while state regulators have little power or funding to enforce their own rules. Here are four takeaways:
• Hydroelectric dams have been a linchpin of renewable energy in Maine
• Hydroelectricity is out, wind and batteries are in
• As dams deteriorate, safety enforcement lags
• Federal decisions on hydroelectric dams, and their environmental consequences, stand for decades, so addressing relicensing is a massive undertaking