House Committee Approves Bill To Relicense Collinsville Dams

An effort to revitalize two old hydro electric dams on the Farmington River is one step further along. U.S. Congressman Chris Murphy has helped move a bill to issue federal licenses for the dams through the House Energy and Commerce Committee. WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports

The bill would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reissue two expired licenses to the town of Canton, in cooperation with Avon and Burlington. Once rebuilt, the dams could generate enough electricity for about 1500 homes in the area. One of the dams was built in the 1800s to power an ax factory in Collinsville. Both were shut down in 1965 when the factory was closed. A company called Summit Hydropower was issued the licenses in 2001, but the licenses have since expired. Congressman Chris Murphy says the bill would save the town of Canton hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“I’m a big believer in renewable energy, but I’m also a big believer in local energy. And we’re seeking with legislation to just have those expired licenses reintroduced, allowing for Canton to spare the taxpayers all of the expense of going through the full approval process. We got the bill through the Committee and we’ll hopefully bring it to the House floor very shortly.”

If the bill does become law, the licenses would be reissued only after an environmental review and after the public has a chance to weigh in on the project.

For WNPR, I’m Nancy Cohen.