These Young Entrepreneurs See Opportunity Flowing Through Maine’s Decaying Dams
Goose River Hydro co-founder Nick Cabral. Photo by Fred Bever for Maine Public
Maine is home to hundreds of dams that have fallen out of use, a legacy of the heyday of its mills.
The dams can be a liability for owners and municipalities, who have to maintain them or pay for their removal, which in turn can upset people who’ve come to rely on their impoundments for recreation. But a couple of 20-something entrepreneurs sees potential in old dams in the form of renewable energy and profit.
The Goose River runs roughly nine miles from Swan Lake in Swanville to meet the sea in Belfast. Along the way, it passes through several dams and impoundments built more than a century ago to power a leather board mill, including one dam now owned by a company called Goose River Hydro.