-Hi, I'm -Eric Ford from Made Here.

-Keen, New Hampshire based -director Matthew Bolton -focuses on the history -and science behind dams -and the power of water.

-The film focuses on -the story of Bob King, -a New Hampshire entrepreneur -whose life's work -has been rehabilitating -abandoned dams -to produce clean energy.

-You can watch -The Power of Water -and other great made here -films -streaming on our website -and through the PBS app.

-Enjoy the film -and thanks for watching.

-Oh, wow.

-Awesome.

Sam.

-Take one.

-Okay.

-I'm Bob King.

-Welcome to my home, -which I share -with my lovely wife, Annie.

-I love water.

-I love rivers, I love free -flowing wild rivers.

-And I love hydropower.

-I suppose it -all started in China -a few thousand years ago, -when the first recorded -uses of hydropower.

-But here in New England, -it was, -of course, a huge part -of our industrial past.

-In fact, right here -locally, in 1674, -a man named Peter -Evans was born in -what is now Hinsdale, -or perhaps Northfield.

-And he had a friend -named Stephen Belden.

-Stephen -was given a piece of land -by the townspeople, -and it says right -in the deed -that he could have this land -for free, provided -ye shall maintain -a sufficient grist mill, -blew it up again.

-If ye shall build -a sufficient grist mill, -and maintain it forever, -and maintain it forever.

-And so, Mr. -Belden got together -with his friend Peter Evans.

-And lo and behold, -they built this grist mill, -and they must -have maintained it -for a long time.

-Fast forward -a few years to, to me, -when I was 11 years old, -and after a big Thanksgiving -meal, we went for a hike -and stumbled on an abandoned -hydroelectric power plant.

-Windows were blown out.

-The door was gone.

-There was nothing -but the big iron carcass -of a of a generator -in there.

-To my mind, -it just struck me -as an incredible resource.

-I imagine what -it must have done once to -to help light -the community around it.

-Anyhow, -it was only a few months -later -that the first oil -embargo struck -the United States, -and all of a sudden -everybody was talking -about energy -and the price of energy -and the sources -of future energy, -and whether it would be -clean and renewable -or remain fossil fuels.

-And, you know, to me, this -just reminded me that, oh, -small hydropower -locally here in New England -is part of the solution, -a wonderful -source of local energy.

-So there I was.

-I had it in -mind that I wanted to own -and operate my own -hydroelectric power -plant in New England, -and I had no idea -how to do this.

-I had no car, but I borrowed -my parent's old Dodge -Omni and I found this list.

-There was literally -thousands of dams -and abandoned hydro sites -across New England.

-And of course, there was a -time not so long ago -when New England -got almost all of its energy -from hydroelectric power -or hydropower.

-And, I mean, this in itself -blew my mind.

-And later -I did do the research -and came to realize -this was true, that up -until the mid 1940s, -most of our electricity -anyway, came -from hydropower.

-So sooner or later, -I stumbled on an -abandoned hydro plant -in northeast Connecticut -that was for sale.

-27 year -old Bob King is not about -to give up on New England's -natural energy resource.

-Before everybody started -talking about energy, -it just seemed to me -as a young person that hydro -electric power was clean -and maybe cheap and, -and that there's -plenty of it -around, -because all over New England -we see lots of abandoned -stations like this one.

-Richard Rawson -owns and operates -a hydro plant in nearby -Putnam, Connecticut.

-What's what's happened -here is simply amazing.

-I looked at this project -about six years ago, -and I shook my head -and left.

-I didn't think -it was even possible -to utilize -what was left here.

-That's how I got started.

-I immediately got to work -combing through junkyards -and, you know, -any source of material -turbines, generators, -gearboxes, -everything I needed.

-I didn't have a lot of -money.

-And also, I had recently -traveled in Africa to places -like the Congo and -Mozambique, where I had seen -how much people can do with -so little, so little money, -so little capital, -so little resources.

-And I figured -if they can do it in Africa, -certainly -in northeast Connecticut, -I can find what I need -to rebuild a power plant.

-And that was my philosophy, -and that's what I did.

-And I had a lot of help from -friends and family -who had come down -to the site on weekends.

-They would leave their -clean, normal American jobs -and come down -and get covered with -filth and bruises -and scratches.

-Working for me at the power -plant on weekends.

-So my name is Annie Faulkner -and I'm married -to Bob, and it's been quite -an adventure.

-When I met Bob, -he was working on his first -plant in Mechanicsville, -Connecticut.

-I had imagined, you know, -cool little stone waterways -and wooden water wheels, -this sort of quaint -New England scene.

-And when I got there, it was -so much more impressive.

-It was -concrete and steel and, -you know, big, dangerous -machines that could hurt you -and high voltage.

-Bob himself -was really impressive to me, -to so much more than a wild, -crazy engineer.

-He read a lot.

-He understood the -multiple dimensions -of our environmental -and social crises, -and he was really committed.

-So he lived in a crazy -little room -that he had built in the -rafters of his power plant, -and he lived there with his -business partner, Mitt, -and all the mice that got -to enjoy their crumbs.

-And he did it with art -and creativity and music.

-He would invite friends -and family -to come down and work -and get dirty, -and then have a great party -afterwards.

-So there were, spinning -turbines and strobe lights, -and it was a little scary -because you didn't want to -hurt yourself.

-Okay.

-Another way -in the -process of all of this, -I got a little publicity, -and eventually, -I was contacted -by a wonderful family -named the Taylors.

-And, Lieutenant Colonel -Warren Taylor, who was also -a hydro fanatic.

-And he had heard -about what I was doing.

-And he and his son Tim -came down to visit me -in Connecticut.

-And, well, -it became the start -of a wonderful relationship.

-And Tim Taylor, remains -my business partner -to this day.

-Well, he was impressed -by what you had done -down in Mechanicsville.

-And he pretty much said, -well, -I could treat Bob -like my son.

-He's trustworthy.

-He's hard working.

-He says, why don't we, -the families, get together -and start developing sites?

-The first unit, -the enacting.

-They'd got a log -or with a gate -right in the runner -and ripped all the blades -apart on the runner.

-And Bob found -someone that had a die -to make the curved blades.

-Right.

-And you rigged up the die -to your excavator bucket -the press them out.

-We figured out -how to cut the right size -blade out of quarter inch, -quarter inch steel plate.

-Yeah, heat it up red hot, -put it in the die, -and then smash it -with the excavator -bucket tool -to shape that perfect shape.

-That's why as I go along, -I say, gee, -that might be useful.

-And a hydro.

-So I get it back.

-Stop it.

-Where is the American way?

-It's just to buy more stuff.

-And when you're done -with it, throw it out.

-And that's -the end of the lifecycle.

-Whereas we are -recycling equipment, -it's been around, you know, -60, 70 years.

Some of it.

-Yeah.

-And or, or the turbines -that came out of Maine, -which -were 1910.

There you go.

-And then -here we are generating -zero carbon energy -on top of that.

-So it's it's really -and I think this is -what drives -all of us is the desire -to make a contribution -to this world, in this -country, in this planet, -that different way -to generate electricity to, -to, to build stuff, -you know, all of it.

-We try to do with the -with an eye towards -the environmental impact -and how to minimize it.

-All right.

-So I got interested in in -hydropower through knowing -Bob King.

-There we were.

-There is a river, and there -is this high energy guy -making electricity.

-And you could see that -there were -that electricity was leaving -the building -through insulated -high voltage lines.

-And here he was -producing electricity, -which is, I think, -sort of semi -magical in most of our minds -because how does it work -and where does it go -and what does it do -in the way -between here and there?

-The way it works -is that somewhere -out in your region, -there is a spinning.

-Essentially, -it looks like a big electric -motor that's spinning, -but it's being powered -by something, in our case -by water.

-So we have a turbine -inside, -usually a pipe or a case, -and the water is flowing -through the turbine.

-The turbine, -there's -lots of different kinds, -but they look -always in some way, kind -of like a fan of some sort.

-And that turbine is attached -to a generator which spins, -and the generator produces -electricity.

-So all you need is some way -of spinning the generator -so you can spin a generator -with a hydro turbine -the way we do, -you can spin it -through a steam turbine, -which can be run -by a variety of sources -like coal, natural gas, -steam generated by a -nuclear plant.

-You can spin it directly -with a gas motor, -like the little generators -that you find, -you know, behind the market -stalls in farmer's market -or on a construction site.

-So that makes the -the generation -of electricity, -particularly interesting.

-There's so many ways -to generate it.

-It's also notable, though, -that you can't assume -that it's a clean generation -source.

-There's some incredibly -bad sources out there, -like dirty coal plants, -for example.

-So the electricity -then goes out -through our transformer, -and it's boosted up -to high voltage -because there's less -resistance at high voltage, -and it's sent wherever -it needs to be sent, -and eventually ends up -going back through other -Transformers -and into your house -in a low voltage form.

-So it won't kill you -if something goes wrong.

-And that powers -everything in your house.

-So there's a -physical connection -between every generator -that supplies your power -and your region, -and the plug in your house.

-And the crazy thing about it -is that electricity travels -at near light speed, -so the delay time -between its generation -and the time -it arrives in your lamp, -you know, an hour -scale is basically nil.

-It's essentially -bottled sunlight.

-It's a form of -energy that you can't see, -don't know that it's moving.

-There aren't any moving -parts in a wire.

No.

-And yet this force is moving -through it.

-And, it's -really magical stuff, -and very efficient as well, -which makes it, -I think we're thinking about -we're on about.

-So what we've got here is -we got the dam -that was built in 1836 -out of wood.

-In the 1960s.

-It was filled with concrete, -which is why it's -still holds back water.

-But that's why it looks -kind of funky -is because it's -a wooden skeleton.

-I was asked, -does every hydro plant -need a power canal?

-And the answer is no.

-But this one has a canal -so that it generates -more head or drop.

-As the water gets further -and further away -from the dam, -the river's going down -and the canal is in, -which means the drop -increases as you go.

-So the water comes down, -the canal, turns outside, -goes right under -where you people are, -and just goes down into a -giant like ten foot -diameter pipe.

-It slowly squeezes -it down into a turbine -which is only about -eight feet around.

-And that's where -the water goes through.

-The turbines -shoot straight down -and then the process -spins the wheel, -which thereby spins -a great big generator, -which you will see.

-And the generator is -what makes electricity.

-So it's really remarkably -simple.

-And the water -goes out the back -and right -back to the Westfield River.

-Folks, -the reason I yanked out -this book is because -I have an essay in it -that I wrote entitled -Kept the Grid, -and it's the basic concept -that humans, we can't -keep growing endlessly, -you know?

-Yes.

Let's build -lots of solar and wind -and even small hydro.

-But all of these have -an environmental impact.

-And can we just figure out -a way to stop getting bigger -and bigger and bigger?

-That's kind of -what this book is about.

-And that's part of what -my life's work is about.

-And we need as much clean -energy as we can get, -especially if we can -cap the grid and not -keep needing more and more.

-And we can take one.

-There was a project out -at Stanford University -called the Uncommon Dialog -to bring together dam owners -and environmental lists -and river enthusiasts -to talk about the future -of hydropower and how, -it can be helpful in terms -of clean, green energy -to address the impact -of climate change.

-All of these parties -came together and came up -with the framework -for how to address -the 90,000 dams that -exist currently all across -the United States, to remove -some dams, to let the rivers -run freely, to retrofit -some dams, to provide -clean green energy, -and to rehabilitate -some dams -that were a threat or are -a threat to public safety.

-So Bob was involved -with the hydropower owners -and helped to set up -a meeting -here in New Hampshire -on the Connecticut River at -the Wilder Dam -to bring -together hydro owners, -river enthusiasts -and environmentalists -to talk about -the introduction of the 21st -Century Dams Act.

-With these dams, -you don't need to address -the same -permitting obstacles -that you might have.

-Creating -brand new energy facilities.

-And we don't have that time -given what's happening -to our climate.

-Already, -we need to dramatically -reduce our carbon footprint -to address -the impacts -of climate change.

-Right now, it's not a matter -whether you're -right or left.

-The main thing is common -sense.

-Now, the problem we have -with a lot -of the conservatives -is they think -this global climate change -is a bunch of hooey.

-Bob and I saw it firsthand -with the site -that we had out in New York, -whereas we ended up -with three floods -in about an eight year time, -two of them 100 year floods -in one, a 500 year flood.

-That's the one that came -through the windows -of the power plant.

-Yep.

And flooded -our high voltage generators -completely underwater, -2400 volt generators.

-They didn't like that.

-And along -with all the sewage -from the local treatment -plant that had their.

-So when we dug it out, -it really smelled sweet.

-When you start -seeing that occur -in just one location, -you say -something is wrong here -and you go back through -the records and you see -30, 40 years -in the past before they had -anything similar to that.

-And and you say, -that's not right.

-I mean, the mill foundation -that was there -that got washed -some of it away -was a mill building had -been there for 100 years.

-And we're seeing floods -that are taking it away, -the foundation and saying -not right.

-The interesting thing today -is that -climate change as far as how -it affects hydropower.

-Well we are both part -of the solution -to climate change -being zero carbon energy.

-And we are in the crosshairs -of climate change -because of how the weather -is changing.

-At one of our dams, -we had already started to -literally cut off -the top of the dam, -cut through three foot -thick reinforced concrete -with great big diamond saws -so that we could -essentially create a larger -water passage, a larger area -for floodwaters to pass.

-Because we knew that -climate change was -bringing more severe floods -and more often, -lo and behold, in the midst -of cutting the concrete -blocks off, we had a flood.

-The river wasn't -going to wait around -for us to finish the job.

-Instead, the river lifted -several seven ton -concrete blocks -and threw them off.

The dam.

-Right on to our scaffolding.

-Basically reminded us that -as climate change worsens, -which it is doing, -you know, it'll become -more destructive -and more disruptions -to ecosystems and people.

-And, you know, this -reminds us -why we are even in this -industry in the first place, -which is to provide more -clean energy.

-So the climate crisis -has a twin crisis -and it's mass extinction.

-So humans are causing -the sixth -mass extinction on planet -Earth.

-Plants and animals -and others are going -extinct at a rate -something like a thousand -times faster than normal.

-Populations of wildlife -are crashing -all over the world, -and it's, it's very scary.

-And it's makes me very sad -because the complexity -and the abundance of nature -of wild creatures on -the planet is a gift -that is millions of years -in the making, and we are -we are destroying it.

-We are squandering it, -and we can't really ever -get it back.

-And of course, -the extinction crisis -and the climate crisis -go hand in hand.

-DeForest station -drives climate change, -and climate change itself -is driving extinction -even faster.

-So the two are very much -go together.

-So land conservation for me -confronted -multiple dimensions -of the environmental crises.

-It required humility -and restraint.

-It created wildlife habitat.

-I just loved having -a lot of green on the map, -and a lot of places -where there weren't -tons of people and roads -and logging.

-I spent a lot of time -as a young person -climbing and backpacking, -so I think I just -fell in love -with big, wild landscapes, -and it was an opportunity -to create that here.

-If humans could give back, -some of the Earth -to wild nature, -there would be room -for everything.

-We'd have room for wild -rivers.

-We'd have room -for wild, open mountaintops.

-And we would be able -to accept that some rivers -are going to be damned, -and some mountaintops -are going -to have wind farms on them.

-But we need to pull back -and make sure there's room -for wild nature.

-So I think the -challenges in -front of us are quite clear.

-If you step back -and look a little bit at it -when I was I'm 57 years old -when I was a kid.

-There are 3 billion people -in the world now.

-They're eight.

-And it the world -hasn't changed size.

-Yeah, atmosphere -hasn't changed size.

-And yet we continue to -produce more and more stuff -and, we've just reached -the point where we have to -be careful -figuring out where in the.

-We've your interest lies -and where you can fit in -and how you can make -a difference, -even a small difference.

-That's really the challenge.

-So I remember someone -telling me a long time ago -that optimism and pessimism -were distractions, -and that instead -we should focus on hope, -because hope is essential.

-Like we're never going -to get through this -if we're not hopeful -that maybe what we're doing -is actually going -to make a difference, -and we won't actually live -long enough, -any of us, to know -whether -what we're doing is making -a big enough difference.

-But we still have to do it -because, -you know, we're here.

-We got to do it.

-You know, the land -conservation that -that you work on and, -you know, the clean energy -that we work on, -including our new -solar project, -all these things do -make a difference.

-Do they make a difference -fast enough -and not at a large enough -scale?

-Probably not.

-But that's why -we need more people -jumping on the bandwagon -and having the fun -that we have.

-Because let's face it, -our work is fun.

-On a good day.

-You know, Sam -and I love what we do and -we just get a kick out of -working by beautiful rivers -and seeing this amazing, -very simple machinery, -you know, so efficiently -spin a kilowatt hour meter -and send electricity -out into the grid.

-It's it's a wonderful -it's a wonderful sensation.

-So looking into the future -as much as we can, -what I imagine is a future -where the solutions -are really interesting -to be involved in.

-For example, -when I was a kid, -my father, would talk to us -about electric cars -and tell us how great -they're going to be now -by company -cars, an electric car.

-We plug it in at hydro -sites.

-It's better in every way -than an internal combustion -engine.

-Simpler, quieter, -more powerful.

-Better.

Much cheaper to run.

-So the future -can be exciting -and I think is -very exciting.

-It's just the work -itself is lots of fun.

-What I imagine is a carbon -free energy -portfolio -here in New England -and all across the country -and around the world.

-Frankly, what I imagine -is a New England -landscape with wild forests -in every town -and in between, -deep forests so big -you can still get lost.

-I also imagine a human -culture that looks at trees, -as homes for other beings -and old trees as the -the best carbon capture -technology ever invented.

-We need to imagine a world -where we can stop -thinking about unlimited -growth as the end all -because in -the end, if we can do that, -a growing natural abundance, -I think we will -find actually more -meaningful than -than the material abundance -that we all seem to be -after today, -I think about a year ago, -Germany, for a short -period of time -in the middle of a windy day -with sun, -ran their whole country -off of renewable power.

-I imagine envision a day -when the United States -could do the same.

-Think about that.

-The entire nation -running off of renewable -power, -even for a short period.

-At first.

-It's possible -other people have done it.

-I look forward to it.

-I hope it happens -in my lifetime.

-In fact, I hope it happens -in the next ten years.

-I love water, -I love rivers, -I love hydropower.

-And did you wonder -what happened to that guy, -Peter Evans, -who was told to maintain -the water -mills there in the lower?

-Sure.

Forever.

-Well, Peter had a son, -Lieutenant John Evans, who, -with his wife -Lydia, had a son, Uriel, -who had a son, Columbus, -who had a son, John, -who had a son, Caryl, -who had a son, Frederick, -who with his wife Dorothy, -had a daughter, Elizabeth, -who had a son, Robert.

-And that's me, -Robert Evans King.

-So I'm still active -maintaining -the dams in the lower -basin.

-300 years later.

-Truly, -Matt, -you could fall into a chasm.

-And I don't know -if there was -a railing around it yet, -but it's like -you just had to be careful.

-You know, rocking out -to strobe lights around, -spinning equipment.

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