New Melones
Hydro power plant · Tuolumne County, California
Nameplate capacity
300 MW
Rank in California
#75
of 1,897 plants
In service since
1979
June 1979
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- U S Bureau of Reclamation
- County
- Tuolumne County
- Generating units
- 2
- Share of state capacity
- 0.28%
- Rank among hydro plants in California
- #7 of 244
- EIA plant code
- 6158
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 150 MW | 191 MW | 1979 | Operating |
| 2 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 150 MW | 191 MW | 1979 | 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
| Solano Wind | Wind | 301 MW |
| Kern River Cogeneration | Natural gas | 300 MW |
| Sycamore Cogeneration | Natural gas | 300 MW |
| Stateline Solar | Solar | 300 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 300 MW solar plant and a 300 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