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Big Creek 1

Hydro power plant · Fresno County, California

Nameplate capacity
88 MW
Rank in California
#309
of 1,897 plants
In service since
2013
November 2013

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
Southern California Edison Co
County
Fresno County
Generating units
4
Share of state capacity
0.08%
Rank among hydro plants in California
#44 of 244
EIA plant code
317

Generating units

Individual generating units at Big Creek 1
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
4Conventional Hydroelectric31 MW31 MW2025Operating
3Conventional Hydroelectric22 MW22 MW2023Operating
1Conventional Hydroelectric20 MW20 MW2013Operating
2Conventional Hydroelectric16 MW16 MW2013Operating

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

Coso Power DevelopersOther90 MW
Mojave 16/17/18Wind89 MW
Placerita ESSBattery storage88 MW
Resurgence Solar IISolar88 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 88 MW solar plant and a 88 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