Salt Springs
Hydro power plant · Amador County, California
Nameplate capacity
42 MW
Rank in California
#498
of 1,897 plants
In service since
1931
June 1931
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
- County
- Amador County
- Generating units
- 2
- Share of state capacity
- 0.04%
- Rank among hydro plants in California
- #67 of 244
- EIA plant code
- 279
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 30 MW | 33 MW | 1953 | Operating |
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 12 MW | 11 MW | 1931 | 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
| Voyager Wind III | Wind | 43 MW |
| Berry Placerita Cogen | Natural gas | 43 MW |
| Forbestown | Hydro | 42 MW |
| Cabazon Wind Partners | Wind | 41 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 42 MW solar plant and a 42 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