Dams
There are 10 dams on the Deerfield, owned by three different electric utilities:
- TransCanada owns the Somerset, Searsburg, Harriman, Sherman, #2, #3, #4 and #5 dams
- Brookfield Power owns the Bear Swamp Pump Storage project and Fife Brook dam
- Consolidated Edison owns the relatively small Gardner Falls Dam, which dates from 1904.
The various hydroelectric facilities were purchased from National Energy & Gas Transmission, Inc. (NEGT) subsidiary USGen New England, Inc. at the conclusion of NEGT's Chapter 11 bankruptcy and liquidation of the assets of the USGen subsidiary in 2005
In 1994 an agreement on relicensing the various dams with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Massachusetts and Vermont state authorities that regulate water quality led to comprehensive coordinated water release and power generation schedules to enable more recreational use of the river, with minimum water flow measures to mitigate the dam impact on riverine habitat.
A 260-foot (79 m) tall dam was proposed for the Stillwater section of the river in Deerfield in the mid to late twentieth century. Local opposition helped to defeat the proposal.
| Name | Capacity (MW) | In Service | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Searsburg Station | 5 | 1922 | |
| Harriman Station | 39 | 1925 | |
| Sherman Station | 7 | 1927 | |
| Deerfield #5 | 14 | 1974 | |
| Unknown | Discontinued, located underwater in lower Bear Swamp reservoir | ||
| Fife Brook Station | 10 | 1974 | |
| Bear Swamp Generating Station | 600 | 1974 | Upper reservoir pumped from 770' to 1600', released in high demand periods. |
| Deerfield #4 | 6 | 1913 | Charlemont-Buckland border |
| Deerfield #3 | 7 | 1912 | Shelburne Falls |
| Deerfield #2 | 6 | 1913 |
Read more about this topic: Deerfield River