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Bangor Hydro Electric Company, often referred to as just Bangor Hydro, is a Bangor, Maine-based public electric utility.

History
Precursor to Bangor Hydro

What is known today as Bangor Hydro Electric Company began May 2, 1885, with the organization of the Bangor Electric Light and Power Company to provide power to the city's residents.

By 1887, the company's founders had developed the area's first electric railway system, the Bangor Street Railway. On May 10, 1887, the company strung a wire to the residence of a Dr. Neally on Harlow Street in Bangor. The electricity supplied was used to power the first electric motor installed in the city.

In October 1889 both the electric company and the railway company became part of the Bangor Public Works Company. By 1891, the company had built and was utilizing the first hydro-electric station in Maine, located in Veazie. The station was used to operate 30 miles of electric railway, about 10 thousand incandescent electric lamps, and nearly 100 horsepower of small electric motors in the greater Bangor area.

In April 1905, the Bangor Public Works Company, along with two other local railways, were purchased by the Old Town Electric Company and became the Bangor Railway and Electric Company.

Bangor Hydro Electric Company

In 1924, the Bangor Railway and Electric Company incorporated as Bangor Hydro Electric Company with the consolidation of several small electric companies in eastern Maine. The consolidation was approved by the public utilities commission on Februrary 17, 1925.

Bangor Hydro's infrastructure was severely affected by the North American ice storm of 1998, in which approximately 700,000 Maine residents were without power, some for over a month.

On September 25, 1998, Bangor Hydro signed an agreement to sell its power plants as required by Maine's electric industry restructuring law. As of March 1, 2000, Bangor Hydro no longer generates electricity but remains responsible for the delivery aspects of electric service.

Bangor Hydro was acquired by the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Emera Incorporated in 2001.

The company completed construction of the Northeast Reliability Interconnect (NRI), a high voltage transmission line between the Bangor area and New Brunswick, Canada, on December 5, 2007.

Today
Bangor Hydro provides energy transmission and distribution services to a population of 192,000 in an area encompassing 5,275 square miles in Maine's Penobscot County, Piscataquis County, Hancock County, and Washington County. It is considered the second-largest electric utility in Maine behind Central Maine Power in terms of service area and customer base.