Hydro Facilities - Information and History
In the mid eighteen hundreds, the Kesslen Shoe Factory was the largest employer in the Town of Kennebunk. Located in the heart of downtown beside the Mousam River, the factory obtained the power to operate pulleys and conveyor belts from a water wheel powered by the river. In 1893, the Town purchased the turbine rights at the Kesslen Shoe Factory. This purchase provided the necessary cash flow for the shoe factory to remain in business and started the municipally owned electric light department.
Over the years, the Kennebunk Light & Power District acquired two more factory sites on the river that had timber and dirt dams and water powered turbines. In the mid 1980s the District updated the Kesslen turbine and dam, removed and replaced both dams at the other sites - Twine Mill and Dane Perkins - and upgraded the turbines at those sites. The three dams were licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to Kennebunk Light & Power District.
The FERC licenses to operate the dams were set to expire on March 31, 2022, with the District being required to file a Notice of Intent by March 31, 2017. On March 29, 2017, the District filed its Notice of Intent to not pursue a subsequent FERC license upon expiration of the current FERC license. America First Hydro, an entity separate from KLPD, filed a pre-application document with the FERC to potentially secure a future license. Those efforts were subsequently ceased.
On March 31, 2021, KLPD submitted to FERC an Application for Surrender of License for the Lower Mousam Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project Number 5362. The surrender application is pending with the FERC.
In 2023, Maine DEP notified KLPD that the current surrender application to abandon the dams in place does not meet the State’s requirements for water quality standards and fish passage. KLPD is actively pursuing funding to study fish passage options to satisfy the State requirement.
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