The Orrington trash incinerator, owned by Eagle Point Energy Center (EPEC), will not reopen for at least 15-18 months, pushing the projected reopening date to September-November 2026. This is significantly later than the initial projections made by the owners upon purchasing the facility in February 2024.
The plant's closure followed a foreclosure of the previous owner, Penobscot Energy Recovery Co., in 2023. A subsequent fire in October 2024 further complicated the situation, despite the owners initially aiming for a 2025 reopening.
Eight employees are currently working at the plant, and this number is expected to rise as the reopening date approaches. EPEC representatives declined to comment on the delays.
Orrington is a co-owner of the plant along with EPEC.
The Orrington trash incinerator is at least 15 months away from reopening.
Construction at Eagle Point Energy Center will take another 15 to 18 months, Project Manager Roy Donnelly said at a Penobscot County Commission meeting Tuesday. The plan is to start accepting trash between September and November 2026, he said.
The plant was shuttered in 2023 after longtime owner Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. was foreclosed on.
The timeline shared Tuesday is the latest update on the incinerator’s future, and is more than a year and a half later than the facility’s newest owners had proposed reopening when they purchased it last year.
EPEC first bought the plant in February 2024 and Orrington is a co-owner of the plant. The new owners floated the possibility of opening as soon as early 2025 before a 10-day fire ripped through the facility in October.
Even after the fire, the owner still discussed reopening in 2025.
Evan Coleman, a representative of EPEC, declined to comment.
Eight people are currently on the plant’s payroll and that number will increase as the plant starts accepting trash, Donnelly said.
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