#hollisme — Public Fediverse posts

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#Solar companies partnering with #MaineFarmers for land management

by Jamie Azulay, Jul 28, 2026

#HollisME - "#Nexamp, a #RenewableEnergy company with several solar farms in Maine, is working with local farmers to manage the land beneath its panels. In Hollis, Jonathan Tibbetts was contracted to bring his flock of about 40 #sheep to an approximately 20-acre field.

" 'Basically, what their job is, is to keep the grass below the panels,' Tibbetts said. 'When we leave, we don’t necessarily want it to look like a lawn, but we want the vegetation managed.'

"Nexamp leases the land, and it prefers to avoid heavy machinery powered by #FossilFuels to maintain it.

" 'It’s kind of a no-brainer. It’s more #sustainable. The costs are good,' said Keith Hevenor, Nexamp's communication manager. 'It’s safer in a lot of ways than running mechanical mowers through #SolarFields where you can kick up a rock or do some sort of damage.'

"Nexamp is grazing 2,000 acres across sites in the United States. Eighty sites, with a combined 600 acres, are being grazed in Maine. These partnerships keep operations environmentally friendly while also supporting #LocalAgriculture.

" 'Land access for farming is getting harder and harder for every farmer,' Tibbetts said.

"Tibbetts was running out of space on his farm, but now his business is growing with access to the Nexamp field.

" 'I can go out and put sheep on solar and make an income,' he said. 'To me, that’s still agriculture. It’s just not what people are used to.'

"The partnerships reflect a new age of agriculture, which some farmers are adjusting to while others are struggling to accept the changes.

" 'Solar is controversial, but the reality of it is, it’s here,' Tibbetts said.

"Hevenor hopes the critics who say solar companies are stealing farmland eventually come around. He argues the company is only borrowing these fields temporarily.

"State-mandated decommissioning plans allow the land to return to its previous use if that is what the property owner chooses to do.

" 'If you come in here and build an #AmazonWarehouse or a #Datacenter or a neighborhood, it’s permanently gone,' Hevenor said.

"Hevenor said many of the landowners Nexamp leases from are farmers themselves.

" 'I can see how somebody in their 70s who’s just trying to keep the farm and is looking for some type of income, who isn’t able to farm the way they were 20 years ago, it’s an avenue for them to keep their farm,' Tibbetts said.

"Nexamp has fields out of state being grazed by pigs and cattle. Hevenor said that could be a possibility in Maine in the near future."

Watch video:
https://www.wmtw.com/article/solar-companies-maine-land-management-livestock-farmers/73178986

#SolarPunkSunday #MaineFarms #SolarEnergy #RenewablesNow #Agrovoltaics

Plans unveiled for removal of #BarMillsDam on #SacoRiver

#Brookfield is seeking public comment on its latest proposal to remove all parts of the dam that are visible from the Main Street bridge in #BuxtonME and #HollisME

by Madeleine Kaptein, June 30, 2026

"Brookfield White Pine Hydro, the Maine branch of #BrookfieldRenewable Partners, rolled out its latest plan for decommissioning the Bar Mills Project dam in Buxton and Hollis to the public last week. The company intends to conduct a full removal rather than the partial removal it proposed in 2022.

"The dam, which sits in the Saco River on the Hollis-Buxton border, has not operated since 2017, when it was found to have concrete issues that prevented it from generating electricity. The company had to decide whether to repower the station, reconstruct the powerhouse and install a fish passage, or surrender and remove the project. It chose to surrender.

"Brookfield is preparing to file its application in the fall for federal, state and local permits to move forward with the decommissioning work. It is seeking feedback on its new plan for the remainder of the summer. Initial questions and comments were heard at a public meeting at the Hollis Town Hall on June 25.

[...]

"[My hero] Rita Bradbury spoke at the meeting about concerns about the type of revegetation that will occur in the area, particularly invasive species like #JapaneseKnotweeds that she has seen year after year growing near Usher Island.

" 'I’d like to see a plan from Brookfield where you take it seriously that we don’t want to have an open area for invasive species,' she said. 'I’d like to see a wetland biologist involved so that the right things would grow at the right places and maybe see if there could be a replanting of #NativeSpecies.'

"She also called on Brookfield to remove every part of the dam that it is not using, including the powerhouse spillway, to protect the natural environment and eliminate safety hazards."

Read more:
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/30/plans-unveiled-for-removal-of-bar-mills-dam-in-saco-river/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/3nhvA

#SolarPunkSunday #DamRemoval #MaineNews #JapaneseKnotweed #NativePlants #Fish #RiverHerring #Alewife #AmericanEel #BrookTrout