What Kleinschmidt Associates does

Kleinschmidt Associates (legal name Kleinschmidt Group) is an employee-owned engineering, regulatory, and environmental consulting firm headquartered in Pittsfield, Maine, founded in 1966 by Dr. R. Stevens Kleinschmidt. The firm serves the hydropower and water resources industries across North America, with wholly-owned operations in Canada, and is led by President and CEO Timothy Oakes and Executive Vice President Kelly Larimer. With approximately 200+ employees and over 60% employee ownership, Kleinschmidt combines engineering, regulatory, environmental science, fisheries biology, and hydrology disciplines to deliver integrated solutions for power utilities, independent power producers, government agencies, tribal and First Nations governments, water utilities, and NGOs. Track record includes 500+ dam inspections, 275+ fish passage and hatchery projects, 160+ FERC relicensings, 60+ dam breach analyses, and 17 dam decommissioning programs.

Core service lines include hydropower engineering (modernization, feasibility, penstock replacement, asset life extension), licensing and permitting (FERC expertise, including 10 years on FERC's environmental contractor team), fisheries engineering (fish lifts, nature-like fishways, Denil ladders, effectiveness studies), dam safety and water infrastructure engineering, environmental services and habitat restoration, and hydrologic and hydraulic modeling. Underpinning these services is a proprietary software suite: Emergent (agent-based fish movement modeling), McBreach (Monte Carlo probabilistic dam breach modeling), MAST (telemetry data analysis), JSATS3D (acoustic telemetry 3D positioning), and Stryke (Monte Carlo fish entrainment assessment, EPRI-funded). The firm has supported offshore wind development since 2010 and extends into water utility and flood mitigation work.

Kleinschmidt generates revenue primarily through project-based professional services engagements with enterprise utilities, independent power producers, and government clients, with multi-year contract cadences and direct field-based client relationships. Software tools contribute a secondary licensing/royalties stream and serve both internal consulting productivity and external adoption (e.g., McBreach is offered with free training to the dam safety community). The firm is privately held and employee-owned with no external parent, having rejected acquisition during industry consolidation periods and reaffirmed independence in a 2010 shareholder vote. The company maintains thought leadership through the "Making Waves" podcast, "Full Momentum" HEC-RAS vodcast, the HEC-RAS Blog, and active engagement with the National Hydropower Association and Ontario Waterpower Association.

Name

Kleinschmidt Associates

Legal name

Kleinschmidt Group

Website

https://kleinschmidtgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Kleinschmidt Associates is an employee-owned engineering, regulatory, and environmental consulting firm founded in 1966, serving power utilities, independent power producers, government agencies, and tribal governments across North America with specialized hydropower, dam safety, fisheries, and water resource services supported by proprietary modeling software.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hydropower and Water Resources Engineering Consulting

NAICS

Engineering Services (54133), Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Water, Wastewater & Hydraulics Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainability & ESG Consulting (BPAHACAK), Renewable Policy & Regulatory Strategy (National/State/Local) (EUAMANAA), Water & Wastewater Compliance (NPDES/Stormwater, Pretreatment, Drinking Water/SDWA) (EUAHABAB), Water, Wastewater & Stormwater Compliance (BPAHAJAJ)

Keywords

• Hydropower engineering consulting
• Dam safety services
• Environmental regulatory consulting
• Fisheries engineering services
• Water resource management

Headquarters

HQ city

Pittsfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Engineering Consulting Services: Professional engineering consulting services for hydropower and water resource projects including feasibility studies, design, licensing, permitting, dam safety inspections, and construction monitoring.
2. Environmental Consulting Services: Environmental compliance, ecosystem assessments, habitat restoration, water quality monitoring, and regulatory consulting services.
3. Software and Data Solutions: Proprietary software tools including Emergent, McBreach, MAST, JSATS3D, and Stryke for modeling, analysis, and data management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kleinschmidt Associates provides engineering, regulatory, and environmental consulting services to hydropower and water resource clients across North America. The firm delivers feasibility studies, FERC licensing and permitting, dam safety inspections and engineering, fish passage design, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, environmental compliance, and ecosystem restoration. It complements these professional services with a suite of proprietary modeling and data analytics software tools (Emergent, McBreach, MAST, JSATS3D, Stryke).

Product overview

Kleinschmidt Associates offers a portfolio of proprietary software tools focused on fisheries science, hydraulic modeling, and dam safety. The core product suite includes Emergent (agent-based fish passage modeling), MAST (telemetry analysis), JSATS3D (acoustic telemetry positioning), Stryke (fish entrainment assessment), and McBreach (probabilistic dam breach modeling). These tools are used internally to support consulting services in hydropower engineering, fisheries engineering, dam safety, and environmental services across North America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Emergent: Agent-based fish movement modeling framework that simulates how fish navigate real-world hydraulic conditions
• McBreach
• MAST
• Stryke
• JSATS3D
• HEC-RAS Blog

Products and services

• Hydropower Engineering Engineering services for hydropower facility modernization, new facility design, electrical and mechanical upgrades, feasibility studies, penstock replacement, and asset life extension for power utilities and independent power producers.
• Licensing and Permitting FERC relicensing support, federal and state permitting, and regulatory strategy services for hydropower and water infrastructure owners, including 160+ projects guided through complete FERC relicensing.
• Fisheries Engineering Fish passage feasibility and effectiveness studies, fish lift and fishway design, hatchery systems consulting, nature-like fish passage design, and fisheries engineering for hydropower and water resource projects.
• Dam Safety and Water Infrastructure Engineering Dam safety inspections (500+ completed), Emergency Action Plans, dam breach analyses, dam decommissioning, and civil/structural engineering for water infrastructure assets.
• Environmental Services Ecosystem assessments, habitat restoration, water quality monitoring, fisheries and aquatic ecology studies, and environmental compliance consulting for energy and water clients.
• Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling Hydrologic and hydraulic modeling services for flood risk assessment, dam breach analysis, river system analysis, and water resource planning using HEC-RAS and proprietary tools.
• Data and Analytical Solutions Telemetry analysis, GIS consulting, acoustic telemetry data processing, and data management services supporting fisheries research and hydropower monitoring projects.
• Water Resource Engineering and Habitat Restoration Watershed planning, habitat restoration, dam removal support (30+ efforts across nine U.S. states and one Canadian province), and integrated water resource engineering for rivers and aquatic systems.
• Emergent (Fish Movement Modeling Software) Agent-based fish movement modeling framework integrating behavior-based science with hydrodynamic modeling to simulate how fish navigate real-world hydraulic conditions at hydropower facilities.
• McBreach (Dam Breach Modeling Software) Proprietary Monte Carlo simulation tool for probabilistic dam breach modeling that generates statistical distributions of potential dam breach outflows to support risk management decisions.
• MAST (Movement Analysis Software) Telemetry analysis platform that removes false positives and standardizes telemetry data across multiple technology platforms for efficient one-dimensional fish movement analyses.
• JSATS3D (Acoustic Telemetry Positioning Software) Software providing high-accuracy three-dimensional positioning and data synchronization for acoustic telemetry projects monitoring fish movement in acoustically challenging environments.
• Stryke (Fish Entrainment Modeling Software) Individual-based Monte Carlo model for assessing fish entrainment impacts at hydroelectric facilities, streamlining entrainment risk assessments and environmental reporting.

Quantifiable outcome

• 275+ fish passage and hatchery projects completed
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• East Bay Municipal Utility DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 February 2026Collaborative partnership on probabilistic dam breach modeling work at Dike 2 of the Camanche Reservoir. Teams used Monte Carlo simulations to complement traditional deterministic methods, finding that earlier assumptions likely understated potential downstream flooding risks, and recalibrated the emergency planning model accordingly. Jointly received 2025 EBJ Business Achievement Award in Project Merit category.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• HDR Inc. Large employee-owned engineering consulting firm with a top-tier hydropower, dam safety, and water resources practice. Directly competes with Kleinschmidt on FERC relicensing, dam inspection, and fisheries engineering work for utilities and government clients.
• McMillen Jacobs Associates: Engineering firm specializing in dams, hydropower, fish passage, and water infrastructure. Direct niche competitor on fisheries engineering, dam design, and FERC-licensed hydropower work, with similar mid-sized scale.
• POWER Engineering (now part of GHD): Hydropower-specialist engineering firm (now operating under GHD) with deep FERC licensing, dam safety, and water resources consulting. One of the closest direct competitors to Kleinschmidt in the North American hydropower consulting niche.

Broad incumbents

• Stantec: Global engineering and environmental services firm with established hydropower and water practices (including legacy MWH). Competes for similar utility and government engagements but with substantially broader geographic and service coverage.
• Tetra Tech: Engineering and environmental consulting leader with deep water resources and dam safety practices serving utilities and federal agencies. Overlaps with Kleinschmidt on environmental compliance and water infrastructure but serves a much broader portfolio.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with hydropower, dam, and environmental services capabilities. Competes on large multi-disciplinary programs that Kleinschmidt's smaller scale may not be able to bid on as prime.
• GHD: International engineering and environmental consulting firm with growing North American water and energy practice, including hydropower-adjacent work. Competes for utility and government water resource assignments.
• Jacobs Solutions: Large-scale professional services firm with significant water, environment, and infrastructure consulting capacity. Serves many of the same federal and utility clients as Kleinschmidt, particularly on large dam safety and water programs.

Emerging players

• Barr Engineering: Employee-owned engineering and environmental consulting firm with hydropower, dam safety, and water resources work for utilities and government. Similar culture and ownership model to Kleinschmidt, with overlapping Midwestern/Northeast client base.
• Inter-Fluve: Specialized water resources and river restoration engineering firm working on dam removal, fish passage, and habitat restoration — overlapping with Kleinschmidt's decommissioning and environmental services practices.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kleinschmidt-associates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kleinschmidt Associates