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Bear Valley

Hydro power plant · San Diego County, California

Nameplate capacity
1.4 MW
Rank in California
#1610
of 1,897 plants
In service since
1986
June 1986

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
City of Escondido - (CA)
County
San Diego County
Generating units
2
Share of state capacity
0.00%
Rank among hydro plants in California
#227 of 244
EIA plant code
457

Generating units

Individual generating units at Bear Valley
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
HC1Conventional Hydroelectric0.7 MW0.7 MW1986Operating
HC2Conventional Hydroelectric0.7 MW0.7 MW1986Operating

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 California

AngelsHydro1.4 MW
Bakersfield 111Solar1.4 MW
BeringerSolar1.4 MW
Bishop Ranch BR 1-XSolar1.4 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 1.4 MW solar plant and a 1.4 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 California power plants · What California actually generates