Loon Lake
Hydro power plant · El Dorado County, California
Nameplate capacity
74 MW
Rank in California
#346
of 1,897 plants
In service since
1971
September 1971
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Sacramento Municipal Util Dist
- County
- El Dorado County
- Generating units
- 1
- Share of state capacity
- 0.07%
- Rank among hydro plants in California
- #51 of 244
- EIA plant code
- 432
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 74 MW | 74 MW | 1971 | 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
| Second Imperial Geothermal | Other | 75 MW |
| W E Warne | Hydro | 74 MW |
| Caribou 1 | Hydro | 74 MW |
| Cresta | Hydro | 74 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 74 MW solar plant and a 74 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