Officials seek new path toward reopening Maine WTE plant

As reported by the Morning Sentinel, a panel representing the solid waste interests of 115 Maine municipalities is seeking other ways to reopen a Hampden waste-to-energy plant following several failed efforts to find a qualified buyer.

The plant—which has been closed since May 2020—was originally developed by Coastal Resources of Maine but was forced to put operations on hold after financial difficulties. Since then, several potential buyers have emerged to purchase the plant but failed to provide proof of financing.

The nonprofit Municipal Review Committee (MRC), composed of selectmen and other representatives of the 115 municipalities, said alternatives could include continuing to look for another appropriate buyer or possibly playing a more-direct role itself in owning the plant.

MRC owns the land on which the plant is located and, thus, is its landlord, but the construction of the facility itself was financed by out-of-state bondholders, or investment funds, for which the trustee is the U.S. Bank National Association.

The bondholders have been trying to sell the plant with help from the MRC. MRC’s interests and efforts to that end, however, have been stymied by the complex ownership structure and inaction on the part of the bondholders, who hold a primary position in the receivership and sale process, according to MRC board members.

Pennsylvania-based Delta Thermo Energy Inc. tried to buy the plant in August 2021 but lost exclusive rights to do so that following December because it failed to show it could finance the sale. MRC officials said Delta also did not cover the costs to keep the plant in working condition over the winter.

“We have been clear about that,” Karen Fussell, MRC board president, is quoted as saying in the article. “We have told the bondholder trustee that. We have told Delta Thermo that. We have no interest in having any other dealings with them.”

Fussell told the Morning Sentinel that MRC plans to hold an executive session with member municipalities in mid-February to bring them into the conversation and get their input on how to proceed.

“The goal is to get the plant sold, to get it away from the bondholders because they’re doing nothing with it,” she says.

The MRC over the past few months had solicited other potential buyers, and was working with one, Fussell adds. The bondholders, however, did not respond to inquiries from the MRC to discuss the proposal.

While the Hampden facility is closed, about 25 percent of MRC members’ waste is taken to Waste Management in Norridgewock, and the other 75 percent goes to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. in Orrington.

Michael Carroll, MRC’s executive director, says MRC continues to oversee the plant site. Fussell, the finance director for the city of Brewer, says the plant works and has the technology for waste processing.