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March 6, 2014

Brookfield, GNP at odds on plan to resell hydropower

The owner of hydropower dams supplying East Millinocket’s Great Northern Paper mill with discounted electricity expressed opposition Wednesday to a bill that would allow mill owner Cate Street Capital to sell that hydropower back to the grid when prices are high.

The Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported Ned Dwyer, president of the mill that stopped production in January to retool its business plan, said the company needs to resell hydropower it buys from Brookfield Renewable Asset Management in order to weather the restructuring effort.

Harold Pachios, Brookfield’s attorney, testified against LD 1792 before the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, calling the bill an “unlawful effort… to expropriate Brookfield’s money and give it to Cate Street.”

Under the terms of the bill, Brookfield would be required to share revenue with Great Northern Paper for power sold to the open market during the mill’s closure. The mill would receive an amount equaling the difference between its discounted purchase price and the market rate for that electricity. 

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