PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020
A federal agency has rejected a private company’s application to relicense three dams on the Mousam River that the Kennebunk Light and Power District no longer wants to operate. The future of the Kesslen, Twine Mill and Dane Perkins dams remains unclear as the Kennebunk Light & Power District waits to hear from the the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about its application to surrender the three dams, which had generated power in Kennebunk for a century or more. The fate of the dams has been debated for close to a decade as district trustees analyzed whether to relicense and operate them, remove them or face potentially costly upgrades to build fish passages.