SUN JOURNAL • August 13, 2025
Representatives from a company developing a $1 billion pumped storage hydropower project in Oxford County met Monday with the Dixfield Select Board. “This is a long process…about four or five years. It’s going to be regulated by FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission),” said Tom Brennan, public affairs director with Western Maine Energy Storage, a company established in May 2024 and operating out of Cianbro Corp.’s Pittsfield headquarters. The project would be the first of its kind in Maine and among the largest in the Northeast, capable of generating about 500 megawatts of on-demand power. The project would use two 100-acre artificial reservoirs to store and release water for electricity generation during peak demand. The developer estimates annual energy output at 1 million megawatt hours; Maine uses a little more than 11 million megawatt hours of electricity a year.