The Pennamaquan River in Pembroke is once again being proposed as the site of a tidal barrage to create electric power, with a new name but with a similar design to one proposed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by Halcyon Tidal Power and the subsidiary Pennamaquan Tidal Power LLC and debated from 2010 to 2016. The new company, Pembroke Tidal Power Project LLC, is under the umbrella of Nestar Energy, with Ramez Atiya as the chief technical officer. Atiya was involved in the previous project as the chairman of Halcyon Tidal Power, which developed the patented pile supported barrage structure through Halcyon Marine Hydroelectric.
      Applications filed with FERC require the applicant to list interested parties, which generally includes any affected municipalities and state agencies that would be involved in the formal review process, including studies and permitting. However, in the Pembroke Tidal Power Project FERC filing, which includes in its interested parties listing the City of Eastport and the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the town selectmen contend that the town and other significant parties are not included. The status of intervenor is described by FERC as a formal role that is party to the commission's proceedings. They are able to apply for a rehearing of the commission's final decision and seek review by the appropriate federal court. If an entity does not have intervenor status it can do neither.
      On March 30 Pembroke Selectman Anthony Bennett submitted a motion to intervene with FERC and urged dismissal of the project. He wrote that, while municipal officers were included in the distribution list on the application, they were "left out of the application process" of the likely interested parties/study proponents' portion. He writes that the town received notification of the project filing through a concerned citizen, "not through any official means." He adds, "The municipal officers of the Town of Pembroke contend that, coupled with the conspicuous absence of notification and listing as interested parties of the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration with preexisting approval of a conflicting project involving the waterways of the Pennamaquan River, and a conspicuous absence of previous notification to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, this proposed project having a direct impact on the spawning route for native fish species, the listed application is incomplete and subject to dismissal without prejudice."

New proposal outlined
      The new proposal is much the same as the previous one, using the same technology with similar proposed locations extending across the river near Kelly Point on Leighton Point Road and Hersey Neck on Hersey Road in Pembroke.
      In its preliminary acceptance of the Pembroke Tidal Power Project letter of application, FERC describes the project as follows. "It would have a 9.8 foot wide, 1,640 foot long concrete tidal diversion dam; a 118 foot long, 141 foot wide concrete powerhouse caisson located inline of the tidal diversion dam near the midpoint, housing four turbine generators each with a generating capacity of 5.3 megawatts; a 40 ton traveling gantry boat lift; two impervious core, sand and crushed rock embankments (one 689 foot long embankment from Leighton Neck, a peninsula south of the proposed project site, and one 164 foot long embankment from Hersey Neck, a peninsula north of the proposed site); a 2.5 mile long, 35 kilovolt transmission line connecting the turbine generator units to the regional grid; and appurtenant facilities. The proposed project would have an estimated annual generation of 87,000 megawatt hours."
      In 2016 FERC issued a letter of termination for the previous tidal barrage project, citing the lack of progress by the company of required studies and stating, "because of Pennamaquan Power's inability to meet the requirements and deadlines of the commission's ILP [Integrated Licensing Process] regulations, its lack of progress toward the preparation of a development application, and its inability to fund or conduct studies, the ILP for the Pennamaquan project is terminated."
      More information about the new FERC filing, including a copy of the application, can be viewed on the commission's website using the "eLibrary" link. Enter docket number P 15340, in the docket number field to access the document.
      To file comments, motions to intervene, notices of intent and competing applications, use the commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/eFiling.aspx. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. Commenters must include name and contact information at the end of comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208 3676 (toll free) or (202) 502 8659 (TTY).
      In lieu of electronic filing, paper copies may be submitted. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Debbie Anne A. Reese, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Debbie Anne A. Reese, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852. The first page of any filing should include docket number P 15340 001.