Voters in VT Town Reject Dam Purchase

Renewable Energy Today, July 18, 2005

The Barre Montpelier Times Argus recently reported that voters in the town of Rockingham, VT have defeated a proposal to purchase a local hydroelectric facility and form a municipal utility by a vote of 864-630.

The Times Argus said the result reversed a vote last November in which over 60 percent of voters supported buying the 49-megawatt Bellows Falls dam.

According to the Times Argus, energy company TransCanada purchased all 11 dams in the hydroelectric network on the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers in April for $505 million, but opted to set the Bellows Falls site aside while Rockingham voters decided whether or not to buy it.

The Times Argus said town officials had battled in the past with the dam's owner, USGen New England, over the dam's tax valuation.

(BARRE MONTPELIER TIMES ARGUS: 7/14)