"The Nature Conservancy on Tuesday announced a landmark investment worth $168 million to purchase and oversee Brookfield Renewable’s four hydroelectric dams on the lower Kennebec River in Maine, paving the way for their eventual removal.
The sale all but guarantees unfettered access for endangered Atlantic salmon and other seagoing fish from the Gulf of Maine to their historic spawning grounds upstream on the Sandy River for the first time since the Kennebec River was permanently dammed more than a century ago.
The four dams are located in and between Waterville and Skowhegan and are the last impediments between the mouth of the Kennebec River and its confluence with the Sandy River near Norridgewock.
The two parties finalized a purchase agreement on Sept. 15 that requires Brookfield to continue operating the dams over the next few years while The Nature Conservancy establishes a broader river restoration plan with stakeholder input, said Alex Mas, deputy state director for The Nature Conservancy in Maine, in an exclusive interview with The Maine Monitor."
Emmett Gartner reports for the Maine Monitor via AP September 24, 2025.
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