RePower Wiscasset pursues clean energy park

How optimistic is Peter Arnold an energy park will come to be at Old Ferry Road, Wiscasset?

“Very,” the Damariscotta man and director of the non-profit Maine Energy Investment Corp. (MEIC) said last week. “The stars are aligned ... Wiscasset needs money” and, he added, the land the town got near Maine Yankee two decades ago is “a perfect piece land ... for a technology park.” And that, he said, would go along with the last comprehensive plan. “Citizens of Maine need more electricity because we’re electrifying everything. The feds are flush with cash for projects and Wiscasset deserves some. RePower is a group of locals who have the skills to pull this all together. Overall we’re very optimistic that an Energy Park will come into being at Old Ferry Road!”

At 5 p.m. Monday, June 3, RePower Wiscasset will present the idea to the public, at Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission’s Bath Road, Wiscasset office.

Arnold, a leader of RePower Wiscasset, hopes town and county government members will also come “hear our ideas. We’re focused on influencing public opinion because we’ve heard that public opinion can influence government.” 

How much revenue does the group of energy park supporters project the energy park would yield annually, and who would receive the revenue? “Don’t know about revenue yet because in order to take a journey one has to take a first step,” Arnold said in the email response to questions.

“The first step is to determine whether there is interest in considering the idea ... We’ll demonstrate that the state and the feds are interested in the electricity that such a park could offer and that there are businesses interested in creating and utilizing the electricity if they felt welcome ... We want Wiscasset to become welcoming (to an energy park) because there is an actual climate emergency and Wiscasset could play a role in addressing it.”

Who does he envision owning the currently town-owned property where the group is pursuing the energy park? Said Arnold, “We presume there are a number of possible models and that one will be most attractive and be chosen if a project goes forward. Clean energy generators and associated businesses are popping up all over the country. We don’t have to invent anything, just have a strong vision and choose a good model.”

As for funding, Arnold predicted such a project would attract federal and state money and the town “could put up its land and be welcoming to businesses that want to come be tenants and pay taxes. The first step is to get the planning funded. We anticipate that if the town says it’s interested in the idea of an energy park, planning money will be easy to locate.”

Arnold said RePower is a project under MEIC’s umbrella as a registered 501C3 nonprofit. MEIC’s availability “is one of my contributions to RePower,” he said. 

An energy park was among the ideas Wiscasset Economic Development Director Aaron Chrostowsky floated earlier this month to selectmen as possibilities for the Old Ferry Road acreage.

Asked via email last week what he thought of the energy park idea, Chrostowsky responded: “The Town supports generally RePower Wiscasset's ideas and concepts. However, it is not a town organization. The Old Ferry Road land is town-owned, and as such, all decisions regarding that property will be decided by the Selectboard,” he wrote.

Chrostowsky continued, “RePower Wiscasset’s Clean Energy Park seems like a solid concept for the Old Ferry Road property; however, the town must conduct due diligence on the property before any decisions are made to develop it. Along with RePower Wiscasset’s Clean Energy Park, there are a number of other concepts and serious proposals in development with the property. My goal has always been to find the highest and best (use of the) property that accommodates as many interested parties' concepts as possible.”

He told selectmen May 7, that’s the point of looking into the property. The board wants to learn about possible forest management there. Selectmen took no votes on the matter that night, but voiced interest in housing, business and the limited tree harvesting Chrostowsky said could yield money toward developing the property.