There have been no meaningful industrial uses of the Baker Dam or its impoundment since it was constructed in 1964. The Baker Chocolate Company ceased its operations at Lower Mills in 1965.
By contrast, the impoundment created by the T&H Dam was used by the Bay State Paper Company as a source for industrial process water until the late 1990s. However, Bay State Paper has closed its doors for good and now a shopping center stands at this site.
It seems extremely unlikely that there might be any future industrial uses associated with either of these dams.
Neither dam is currently used for hydropower generation, though it would be theoretically possible to retrofit one or both dams for hydropower purposes. Generally, however, it is not economically feasible to install hydropower generation facilities on such small dams even with today’s high electricity prices and with available renewable energy subsidies.
The cost of hydropower generation at either of these dams is even more prohibitive when one considers the substantial cost not only of retrofitting the dams, but of operating and maintaining these aging structures.
Finally, implementation of hydropower facilities at either of these locations would require issuance of a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or “FERC.” FERC would normally require provision of fish passage facilities as a precondition for issuing a permit, making the prospect of hydropower generation that much more economically infeasible.