Biomass Company With Plants in Maine Files for Bankruptcy, Potentially Putting State’s Loggers at Risk

Stored Solar LLC., a company that owns biomass electricity plants in West Enfield and Jonesboro, Maine, and has had access to millions in state subsidies to help it stay operational, has filed for bankruptcy. The company says that it owes $17.8 million to creditors including an energy market investment company, the states of Maine and New Hampshire, and Maine loggers.

The bankruptcy filing comes six-years after Maine lawmakers passed a $13 million bailout of the state’s biomass industry, which uses waste wood to produce electricity, with the aim of preserving electric plants and logging jobs in the state.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, the West Enfield plant has not produced power since December 2020, while the Jonesboro plant last produced power earlier this year.

In its bankruptcy filing, Stored Solar listed nine creditors whose claims are secured by company property, and another 375 creditors who do not have secured claims. The creditors with unsecured claims include loggers, Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (owed permitting fees), cell phone service providers, and both the state of Maine and New Hampshire for expenses including unpaid taxes.