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Lay Dam

Hydro power plant · Chilton County, Alabama

Nameplate capacity
177 MW
Rank in Alabama
#27
of 80 plants
In service since
1967
February 1967

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
Alabama Power Co
County
Chilton County
Generating units
6
Share of state capacity
0.54%
Rank among hydro plants in Alabama
#6 of 23
EIA plant code
15

Generating units

Individual generating units at Lay Dam
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
1Conventional Hydroelectric30 MW30 MW1968Operating
2Conventional Hydroelectric30 MW30 MW1968Operating
3Conventional Hydroelectric30 MW30 MW1967Operating
4Conventional Hydroelectric30 MW30 MW1967Operating
5Conventional Hydroelectric30 MW30 MW1967Operating
6Conventional Hydroelectric30 MW30 MW1967Operating

Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.

Similarly sized plants in Alabama

Martin DamHydro211 MW
Lewis Smith DamHydro181 MW
Bartletts FerryHydro173 MW
Mitchell DamHydro170 MW

About this data

From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 177 MW solar plant and a 177 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.

“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Alabama power plants · What Alabama actually generates