By Mark C. Borton
By capturing the tides in the 110-square mile Passamaquoddy Bay—which has some of the highest tides in the world—you could produce enough electricity to power much of Maine. Construction of such a tidal power plant would create thousands of desperately needed jobs, and cheap electrical power would bring new industries and prosperity to the state.
That idea crystallized in the mind of Dexter Cooper in 1920 as he recuperated from surgery at his mother-in-law’s summer house overlooking the Bay. Cooper was a civil engineer who helped to design several other dams and hydro-electric power plants. The “Passamaquoddy Project” would require not just one dam, but seven—to hold back a flow of water a dozen times larger than the Mississippi River. Another challenge Cooper faced was that some of Passamaquoddy Bay lay in the United States—but most of it is in Canada.
Click image to enlarge
Quoddy Tidal Power Project Location 
Project Plan from
1935 Popular Science
Dexter Cooper
To pull off such an audacious international project, Cooper needed influential friends. Happily, he had married well, and among the things his wife brought to the marriage was entre into elite society. At his mother-in-law’s house on Campobello Island — which is in Canada, a stone’s throw from the U.S. border — her neighbor was none other than the Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. So began a twenty-five-year effort by Cooper and Roosevelt to build the world’s first tidal-hydro-electric power plant.
Like many grand plans, its fortunes rose and fell. Champions emerged from both political parties and both sides of the border, as did critics. The critics complained it was too expensive; it was unfair competition; it would scare off the tourists; it would kill the fish. But during the Depression, having a hand in the “pork barrel”—and a job doing anything—was better than an empty hand “on the dole.” And Maine needed a hand.
It was a decade and a half before construction actually began, thanks to a $7 million allocation by then-U.S. President Roosevelt. Eastport and Lubec residents celebrated the start of construction on July 4th, 1935 with a parade and fireworks. The Army Corp of Engineers built an entire village—complete with church, movie theater, hospital, and school—for the thousands of construction workers and their families who flooded in. Blasters attacked hillsides and bulldozers plowed the remains into the watery gaps between the islands.
The progress and prosperity did not last. When the initial funding was used up, Congress didn’t renew it. Having invested heavily in related projects, The town of Eastport declared bankruptcy. Then came World War II. The Quoddy village was turned into a Navy “Seabee” training facility, and tidal power was forgotten.
In later decades, the tidal power idea was resurrected by U.S. Presidents Truman and Kennedy and is once again being explored using new technological approaches. Someday, the tidal power idea may become a reality for Maine, as it elsewhere in the world.
About the author: Mark C. Borton was the creator of the Embassy Boating Guide series of books covering the east coast of the United States from Maine to Florida, the four volumes of which have gone through a total of 41 printed editions. Borton is now writing a book about the Quoddy Tidal Power Project which will be published in 2020. This article is adapted from his presentation at the 2018 annual conference of the Tide Mill Institute in Beverly, MA. Contact him at MBorton@snet.net.
Mark –
Coupla’ things: Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Cooper submit a budgetary estimate to Congress for about 30 million when it was revealed that he knew the cost would be at least double that? Roosevelt wasn’t amused. And I believe that FDR pulled the plug on the project and gave the green light to the Cross Florida barge canal, which, after eating up about 40 million, was never completed (victim of the war effort?). Looking forward to your book.
Greetings Len,
Thanks for you comments and questions. I have heard the $30MM figure, and many others. I am trying to sort out which estimate goes with which of the many versions of the proposal (one pool or two, USA and Canada or US only, auxiliary pumped storage facility, etc.). That said, the general outline of your comment/question seems to be correct, though the faulty estimates may lie partly with the US Army Corps of Engineer, who took over responsibility after Dexter Cooper Inc. couldn’t raise the funding because of the Stock Market Crash (and presumably other reasons). As for the Florida Ship Canal, I am looking into how Quoddy’s future was in competition or was tied to FSC (a little mutual back-scratching?). Stay tuned, and by all means, If you have info/sources, please send them along: I have a year of digging and sorting to do! Thanks again. –Mark
Visited with one of the proponents of the project who had the scale model of it in his basement. It was Bonneville Dam sized; no wonder people were scared of its impact on their lifestyle and livelyhood.
Hi Frank,
Nice to hear from you. I would love to know more: Who was it, when, and where? There is an existing and working model at the Border Historical Society in Eastport, ME. It is +/-15 feet square and was built (I believe) by the National Youth Administration at Quoddy Village under the guidance of the Army Corp of Engineers. Is this the model you are referring to, or is there another model? Thanks for any additional details you can provide. –Mark
I was watching a program on (I think) Science Channel the other day which was talking about a recent effort to harness the tidal power in the Bay of Fundy. It was a submerged unit that sat on the bottom and allowed the water flow to turn a turbine arrangement. The program showed the installation of the unit- a very difficult and dangerous job. At the end of the show it was revealed that the company had it set up and running. It generated power for about two days-and then their backers pulled the plug. Presumably the unit is just sitting down there now doing no good to anyone . . .
The company is ORPC and they are planning to come back to Eastport to continue their work in Western Passage. The first was a prototype in Cobscook Bay and it went well. They pulled it out of the bay and checked wear and tear and have been “working out the bugs” since the backers pulled funding. Now they have backers again they are coming back. In the meantime they have been doing riverine projects in Alaska and. I believe, St. John N.B. Canada area. Not dead in the water yet. Yes, pun intended.
I saw the same program about the OpenHydro Ltd. turbine installation. A sad ending indeed. An article on the Global News website says OpenHydro declared bankruptcy about the time the turbine was placed on the sea bottom, causing the financial backers to withdraw their support. The equipment sits there on the bottom, as Joe said, and everything is tied up in the courts. The article is at https://globalnews.ca/news/4644316/cape-sharp-tidal-turbine-damaged/.
Dear Mark Borton: Interested in the progress of your book on the Quoddy project. Nearly every utility in Maine is projecting double digit increases. It is way past time to repurpose the Project. Maybe Mainers will finally realize this should have been completed decades ago. I was born in 1936 the year the funding was denied. I am a long retired newspaper editor who would like to see this dream become a reality using all the modern technology now available. How can I help?
Sometime back in the 1980’s, I stayed at an Inn in the Twin Mtn. Area of NH over a weekend.
The Owner had a longtime friend there as a guest. He was retired from GE. At the time, I was employed with Maine’s largest Electric Utility, from which I retired in 2012. A lively, spirited 3 way discussion ensued one evening about the Passamaquoddy Tidal Project. In the 1920’s – 1930’s, FDR started the WPA, with Projects planned for developing Hydro-electric Power in 5 Regions of the Nation: 1. Pacific NW: Colombia River: Grand Coulee Dam ~ 2. SW: Colorado River: Hoover Dam ~ 3. Northern Plains: Missouri River: Fort Peck Dam ~ 4. SE: TVA: Tennessee Valley Authority ~ 5. NE: Maine & Canadian Maritimes: Passamaquoddy Tidal Power: This Project was stopped in 1936, the only Region of the Nation that the proposed Development was not carried out.
Absolutely needs to be looked at with all the advancements in manufacturing and construction. This would supply clean electricity to the state and provide a perfect learning tool to expand the application.
My sister found a brass tag on the shore of the Saint Croix River in Calais, Maine that read…
“Quoddy Project U.S.E.D 2174 Tool Check.” Could this be related in any way?
Hi Cynthia,
Your sister has apparently found a tool tag from the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project dating from 1935-6. Up to 5,000 people were employed during the initial phase of construction, and work teams were issued tools which they checked out at the beginning of a work shift and back in at the end of the shift. The tag you found must have fallen off of a tool. That you found it on the St. Croix River in Calais, upstream of Eastport, is interesting. It is possible it was carried upstream by ice and tides, but more likely that it was attached to a tool that was sold off as surplus when the project was cancelled, and that the tool was taken to Calais and the tag taken or fallen off. You can read more about the remarkable construction project in my book, “Moondoggle: Franklin Roosevelt and the Fight for Tidal-Electric Power at Passamaquoddy Bay.” It should be available wherever you like to buy books. I will be in Eastport at the Tides Institute on July 1 talking about the “Quoddy” project. I hope you will come and show me the tag. Cheers!
Thanks so much for the information! I will certainly pass it along to my sister. I look forward to purchasing your book and hope to make it to your talk in Eastport about the Quoddy project.
This Tidal project damaged our fisheries, haddock, cod, sardines, pollack, salmon, lobster, and our clam beds all along Passamaquoddy Bay with no input or authorization from the Passamaquoddy Tribe. We still feel the impact of this project and it has caused irreversible destruction to our fisheries and to all surrounding areas. The City of Eastport however has reaped significant benefits to their economy in having the route 190 causeway put in place. Absolutely horrible!!