Kern River 3
Hydro power plant · Kern County, California
Nameplate capacity
40 MW
Rank in California
#501
of 1,897 plants
In service since
2021
March 2021
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Southern California Edison Co
- County
- Kern County
- Generating units
- 2
- Share of state capacity
- 0.04%
- Rank among hydro plants in California
- #69 of 244
- EIA plant code
- 339
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 21 MW | 21 MW | 2021 | Operating |
| 2 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 20 MW | 20 MW | 2021 | 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
| Forbestown | Hydro | 42 MW |
| Cabazon Wind Partners | Wind | 41 MW |
| Butt Valley | Hydro | 40 MW |
| Central 40 | Solar | 40 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 40 MW solar plant and a 40 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