July 3, 2008 - LIHI Re-Certifies Worumbo Hydropower Project , Androscoggin River, Maine

Worumbo Hydropower Project, Maine's first LIHI Certified Project, is Re-Certified

Portland, Maine (July 3, 2008) --- The LIHI Governing Board today re-certified the Worumbo Hydropower Project. The Board’s decision, which was unanimous, recognizes that the Worumbo Hydropower Project has avoided or reduced the Project’s environmental impacts pursuant to the Low Impact Hydropower Institute’s criteria.

On December 7, 2007, the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) received a re-certification application for the Worumbo Project. LIHI certification means that the hydropower facility has been found to meet or exceed the Institute's Certification Criteria which address eight key areas: river flows, water quality, fish passage and protection, watershed protection, threatened and endangered species protection, cultural resource protection, recreation, and facilities recommended for removal. Certification is designed to provide consumers with assurance that a facility has avoided or reduced their environmental impacts pursuant to the Low Impact Hydropower Institute’s criteria.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Facility location: Androscoggin River, Lisbon Falls, Maine,

Average annual generation: about 84.2 GWh

Year FERC license issued: Issued 1985, Amended in 1990 and 1998

Applicant: Miller Hydro Group

Applicant contact: Mark Isaacson, Vice- President Ph. (207) 772-6190

Date initial application posted to website: February 19, 2004

Date public comment period on application closed: April 19, 2004

Certification Date: February 19, 2004

Certification Expiration Date: February 19, 2009

(NOTE: Miller Hydro Group asked the LIHI Board to allow them to accelerate the expiration date of their current LIHI certificate which expires on February 19, 2009, and file right away for a renewal or re-certification of their project for a new five-year term. The LIHI Board accepted MHG's request. The existing certificate will expire on the effective date of the new certificate.)

The Worumbo Project is located on the Androscoggin River at Lisbon Falls, Maine.

The project consists of a dam/spillway, with a crest elevation of 97 mean sea level

(" msl") which includes a gated flood spillway, an ogee spillway with two-foot-high hinged flashboards, a center rock ledge section containing a concrete dike with two-foot-high hinged flashboards, and a 520-foot-long rock-filled timber crib dam with 1.5-foot high pneumatically operated crest gates; an intake section and integral powerhouse with two turbine generators units having a rated capacity of 19.4 MW at an operating head of 30.5 ft. The crest gate/flashboard system is designed to fail when overtopped by two feet of water. The dam creates an impoundment with a surface area of 190 acres at a normal full pond elevation of 98.5 msl. The project is currently operated as a run-of-river project with outflow approximately equal to inflow on an instantaneous basis. The project is also operated to provide seasonally-varied minimum flow releases into the 850-foot-long bypassed river reach between the Durham side dam and the end of the tailrace training wall. Current operation permits the impoundment to be drawn down by a maximum of 1.5 feet. Minimum flow release from the project are maintained at 1,700 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, during impoundment refilling.

Further details about the project can be found by going to the Certified Projects tab and opening Worumbo Project LIHI Certificate No. 10.

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