Milltown Dam | |
---|---|
Official name | Milltown Generating Station La centrale de Milltown (French) |
Country | Canada United States |
Location | St. Stephen, New Brunswick Calais, Maine |
Coordinates | 45°10′33″N67°17′34″W / 45.1759°N 67.2929°W |
Status | Decommissioned |
Opening date | 1881 |
Demolition date | 2023 |
Owner(s) | NB Power |
Dam and spillways | |
Impounds | St. Croix River |
Height (foundation) | 13 metres (43 ft) |
Height (thalweg) | 20 metres (66 ft) |
Length | 183 metres (600 ft) |
The Milltown Dam (French: Barrage de Milltown) was a hydroelectric dam on the St. Croix River between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada and Calais, Maine, United States. The dam was operated by NB Power from 1881 to 2023.
Built in 1881 and modernised in the early-1900s, it was the oldest hydroelectric dam in Canada before its decommissioning, as well as the first hydroelectric facility built by the New Brunswick Electric Power Corporation. [1] Its power house had a capacity of 4 megawatts with its 7 turbines. [2] Before its decommissioning in 2023, the Milltown Dam accounted for 0.8% of NB Power's total hydroelectricity output. Electricity generated by the Milltown Dam was also exported to the United States, connected to a 69,000 volt transmission circuit owned by the Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative, an electric utility serving Calais. [3]
In 2019, NB Power announced its plans to decommission and remove Milltown Dam, citing the dam's high maintenance cost and low energy output. [4] NB Power considered refurbishing the dam, but the cost was estimated to be above $60 million, while the cost of removal would be around $20 million. [5] After receiving approval from the Department of Environment and Local Government, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in 2022, the decommissioning of the dam began on July 1, 2023. [6]
Calais is a city in Washington County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,079, making Calais the third least-populous city in Maine. The city has three Canada–US border crossings over the St. Croix River connecting to St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada.
St. Stephen is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, situated on the east bank of the St. Croix River around the intersection of New Brunswick Route 170 and the southern terminus of New Brunswick Route 3. The St. Croix River marks a section of the Canada–United States border, forming a natural border between Calais, Maine and St. Stephen. U.S. Route 1 parallels the St. Croix river for a few miles, and is accessed from St. Stephen by three cross-border bridges.
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower. Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4,500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also more than nuclear power. Hydropower can provide large amounts of low-carbon electricity on demand, making it a key element for creating secure and clean electricity supply systems. A hydroelectric power station that has a dam and reservoir is a flexible source, since the amount of electricity produced can be increased or decreased in seconds or minutes in response to varying electricity demand. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, it produces no direct waste, and almost always emits considerably less greenhouse gas than fossil fuel-powered energy plants. However, when constructed in lowland rainforest areas, where part of the forest is inundated, substantial amounts of greenhouse gases may be emitted.
The St. Croix River is a river in northeastern North America, 71 miles (114 km) in length, that forms part of the Canada–United States border between Maine (U.S.) and New Brunswick (Canada). The river rises in the Chiputneticook Lakes and flows south and southeast, between Calais and St. Stephen. It discharges into Passamaquoddy Bay, in the Bay of Fundy.
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New Brunswick Electric Power Corporation, operating as NB Power, is the primary electric utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. NB Power is a vertically-integrated Crown corporation by the government of New Brunswick and is responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. NB Power serves all the residential and industrial power consumers in New Brunswick, with the exception of those in Saint John, Edmundston and Perth-Andover who are served by Saint John Energy, Energy Edmundston, and the Perth-Andover Electric Light Commission, respectively.
The electricity sector in Canada has played a significant role in the economic and political life of the country since the late 19th century. The sector is organized along provincial and territorial lines. In a majority of provinces, large government-owned integrated public utilities play a leading role in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Ontario and Alberta have created electricity markets in the last decade to increase investment and competition in this sector of the economy.
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The Ferry Point International Bridge is an international bridge, which connects St. Stephen, New Brunswick in Canada and Calais, Maine in the United States, across the St. Croix River.
The Milltown International Bridge is an international bridge and the main link of the Calais–Milltown Border Crossing, which connects St. Stephen, New Brunswick, in Canada and Calais, Maine, in the United States, across the St. Croix River.
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The proposed sale of NB Power was an attempted takeover of New Brunswick's Crown corporation public utility assets by Hydro-Québec, Canada's largest utility. Announced on October 29, 2009, by premiers Shawn Graham of New Brunswick and Jean Charest of Quebec, the deal ultimately collapsed in March 2010 after months of controversy.
The Dalhousie Generating Station was a 315 MW coal and oil-fired electrical generating station that operated from 1969-2012 in the community of Dalhousie in Restigouche County, New Brunswick.
The Belledune Generating Station is a 450 MW coal-fired electrical generating station located in the community of Belledune in Gloucester County, New Brunswick. It is a thermal generating station owned and operated by provincial Crown corporation NB Power.