Rio Bravo Hydro Project
Hydro power plant · Kern County, California
Nameplate capacity
14 MW
Rank in California
#768
of 1,897 plants
In service since
1989
May 1989
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Olcese Water District
- County
- Kern County
- Generating units
- 2
- Share of state capacity
- 0.01%
- Rank among hydro plants in California
- #100 of 244
- EIA plant code
- 50037
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNT1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 7.0 MW | 6.7 MW | 1989 | Standby/Backup: available for service but not normally used |
| UNT2 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 7.0 MW | 6.7 MW | 1989 | Standby/Backup: available for service but not normally used |
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
| Apple Campus 2 PV | Solar | 14 MW |
| Oasis Alta | Wind | 14 MW |
| SJ/SC WPCP | Natural gas | 14 MW |
| Tropico Solar PV Plant | Solar | 14 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 14 MW solar plant and a 14 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