Residents of the US town of Rockingham debated last week’s failed purchase of the 49MW Bellows Falls hydroelectric dam on Tuesday night, and concluded that a revote is possible.

Voters rejected a plan to buy the 49MW Bellows Falls hydro project on the Connecticut river, despite a previous vote in November 2004 where 60% of the town supported the deal. The vote was 864 to 638 against.

If the deal manages to still go ahead, Canadian companies Brascan Corporation and Emera Incorporated would front the money for the project, receiving profits from the sale of electricity. In 74 years, the town would own the dam outright.

Unless the town has the revote and changes its decision, the dam is expected to remain the property of energy company TransCanada, who purchased the power network on the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers from USGen New England in April this year.

Any revote would have to be filed within the next 30 days.


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