Eagle Creek Renewable Energy’s Riley hydroelectric facility in Jay is seen in 2017. Sun Journal file photo
JAY — The town’s updated valuation of Eagle Creek Renewable Energy’s two hydroelectric power plants on the Androscoggin River shows one is increasing in value and the other is decreasing.
Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls each contributed $5,000 to hire George Sansoucy Associates of Lancaster, New Hampshire, to do an appraisal on the two facilities in Jay and one each in the other two towns earlier this month.
The new valuation figures arrived Wednesday morning before Jay set its tax rate in the afternoon. The new values were factored into the $20.50 per $1,000 tax assessment.
Sansoucy’s appraisal of what is known as the Jay hydroelectric facility was valued at $3.38 million in 2020-21 and $6.2 million, which is an estimated $2.8 million increase, this year.
The Riley hydroelectric facility was valued at $13.67 million in 2020-21 and $6.1 million this year, the town’s assessing agent, Paul Binette said Wednesday. It is an estimated decrease of about $7.57 million.
One of the reasons for the drop in the Riley power plant value is because of “excessive deferred maintenance” by a previous owner, he said. Another reason is the Riley facility is the first dam that catches any debris coming down the river from the Rumford area. The company hauls what is classified as “hazardous waste” to New Hampshire for disposal, Binette said.
When Verso Corp. owned the hydroelectric facilities and the Androscoggin Mill in Jay, the material could be brought to the Jay mill’s landfill. However, the paper mill is owned by Pixelle Specialty Solutions based in Pennsylvania.
Binette held off on giving the Jay board the values of the facilities in the other two towns until he shares the appraisal information with those Select Boards.
The most recent value as of July of the four facilities combined was estimated at about $55 million, Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said.
All four hydroelectric facilities were purchased in 2016 by Eagle Creek, based in New Jersey, from Verso Corp. for nearly $62 million. Ontario Power Generation of Canada acquired dozens of Eagle Creek hydroelectric facilities in 2018. The company kept the Eagle Creek Renewable Energy name and management team at the time.
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