Thousands of fish may have died in Penobscot River dam shutdown

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 30, 2026

A sudden Monday shutdown at a dam on the West Branch of the Penobscot River may have killed thousands of fish, leaving Maine anglers and guides warning that a nationally recognized cold-water fishery is being put at repeated risk. A downed power line triggered a “trip event” around 4:30 p.m. at McKay Station, which is about 30 miles west of Millinocket near Ripogenus Dam. The event automatically shut down the turbines. Water levels on the West Branch then fell from about 2,400 cubic feet per second to roughly 450 cfs almost instantly and stayed there for more than two hours. The unplanned outage at the dam has revived criticism of Brookfield Renewable, Maine’s dominant dam owner, its equipment maintenance and its response times when things go wrong.