FirstLight Begins Annual Drawdown Of Candlewood Lake

BROOKFIELD, CT — Clean power producer FirstLight, the owner and operator of the Rocky River Pumped Hydro Storage Station, has begun the drawdown season for Candlewood Lake, which includes Squantz Pond.

This season’s schedule has been dictated by unseasonably high flows and shifting weather patterns, according to company officials.

The drawdown, executed in consultation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Candlewood Lake Authority, will be completed with water levels returning to normal summer operating ranges prior to Memorial Day 2024. Consulting parties have agreed to execute a shallow drawdown this year. The normal summer operating range of the station is from 429.5 feet to 427 feet, and the drawdown will target an elevation of 424 feet with a 2-foot winter operations pumping and generation range from 424-422 feet.