French Meadows
Hydro power plant · Placer County, California
Nameplate capacity
15 MW
Rank in California
#750
of 1,897 plants
In service since
1966
October 1966
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Placer County Water Agency
- County
- Placer County
- Generating units
- 1
- Share of state capacity
- 0.01%
- Rank among hydro plants in California
- #98 of 244
- EIA plant code
- 424
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 15 MW | 16 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
| CED Avenal | Solar | 16 MW |
| EDF Renewable Windfarm V Inc | Wind | 16 MW |
| Kiefer Landfill | Other | 15 MW |
| San Diego State University | Natural gas | 15 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 15 MW solar plant and a 15 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