Drop 3 (CA)
Hydro power plant · Imperial County, California
Nameplate capacity
9.2 MW
Rank in California
#870
of 1,897 plants
In service since
1941
February 1941
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Imperial Irrigation District
- County
- Imperial County
- Generating units
- 2
- Share of state capacity
- 0.01%
- Rank among hydro plants in California
- #127 of 244
- EIA plant code
- 386
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 4.8 MW | 4.5 MW | 1941 | Operating |
| 2 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 4.4 MW | 4.4 MW | 1966 | 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
| Central Utilities Plant LAX 2 | Natural gas | 9.2 MW |
| City of Tulare Water Facility | Other | 9.2 MW |
| Aspiration G | Solar | 9.0 MW |
| Foothill Feeder | Hydro | 9.0 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 9.2 MW solar plant and a 9.2 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