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Cabinet Gorge

Hydro power plant · Bonner County, Idaho

Nameplate capacity
265 MW
Rank in Idaho
#6
of 155 plants
In service since
1952
September 1952

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
Avista Corp
County
Bonner County
Generating units
4
Share of state capacity
4.03%
Rank among hydro plants in Idaho
#3 of 76
EIA plant code
833

Generating units

Individual generating units at Cabinet Gorge
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
2Conventional Hydroelectric73 MW74 MW1953Operating
3Conventional Hydroelectric73 MW73 MW1952Operating
1Conventional Hydroelectric59 MW44 MW1953Operating
4Conventional Hydroelectric59 MW63 MW1952Operating

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 Idaho

Rathdrum Power LLCNatural gas302 MW
Evander Andrews Power ComplexNatural gas271 MW
Matrix Pleasant ValleySolar200 MW
Palisades DamHydro176 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 265 MW solar plant and a 265 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 Idaho power plants · What Idaho actually generates