Big Creek Water Works
Hydro power plant · Trinity County, California
Nameplate capacity
5.0 MW
Rank in California
#994
of 1,897 plants
In service since
1987
January 1987
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Big Creek Water Works Ltd
- County
- Trinity County
- Generating units
- 1
- Share of state capacity
- 0.00%
- Rank among hydro plants in California
- #158 of 244
- EIA plant code
- 10282
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BCHY | Conventional Hydroelectric | 5.0 MW | 4.8 MW | 1987 | Operating |
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
| Antelope Expansion 3B | Solar | 5.0 MW |
| Bear Creek Solar (Orinda) | Solar | 5.0 MW |
| Box Canyon Dam | Hydro | 5.0 MW |
| Byron Highway Solar | Solar | 5.0 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 5.0 MW solar plant and a 5.0 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