The Lowell Sun, Sun Staff Report
LOWELL -- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has terminated the license of Appleton Trust's hydroelectric plant in the Appleton Mills complex, clearing the way for the property to be developed as part of the Hamilton Canal Redevelopment Project.
For the past year, U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas has been requesting that FERC terminate the hydroelectric plant's license.
"This action will help attract investors and financing for the redevelopment of the property, and is an important victory for the city of Lowell,'' Tsongas said in a statement. "The FERC license that the Appleton Trust held was a significant hindrance to redevelopment plans for the property."
In its ruling, FERC found that the hydroelectric plant, located in the basement of the Appleton Mills building, had not operated regularily since November 1994, and the license to operate should be terminated under the implied surrender rule.
"The FERC decision supports what we have believed all along,'' Lowell's City Manager Bernie Lynch wrote, "that the prior owner long ago surrendered the license to produce power at this site and the lawsuit in federal court against the city, which was based upon a claim of a licensed power plant, is without merit."
Downtown property owner James Lichoulas Jr. and his attorneys have alleged that the Federal Power Act of 1920 prohibits the City Council from using its eminent-domain powers to take the nearly 7-acre swath of land in question because a portion of it was licensed by FERC in 1986 for use as a hydroelectric plant. With FERC's decision, that license no longer exists.
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Saturday, September 20, 2008