Connecticut’s already diminished hydropower industry is at risk of further losses due to aging infrastructure and poor economic conditions, industry leaders told a state hydropower task force on Friday. Hydroelectric power accounts for less than 1 percent of the electricity generated in Connecticut, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. State lawmakers established a task force earlier this year to study Connecticut’s existing hydropower assets, as part of a broader goal of obtaining all of the state’s energy needs from renewable sources by 2040. Connecticut is home to 32 powered dams, according to the National Hydropower Association. The highest concentration of those dams are in the eastern half of the state, as well as in the northwest corner. Thousands of other dams — ranging in use from flood control, to supplying water and powering mills — exist elsewhere in the state, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Dozens of dams that are currently undeveloped for hydropower are capable of supplying electricity to the region, according to a 2006 report by the U.S. Department of Energy.
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