Home / Power plants / Idaho / Smith Falls Hydro Project

Smith Falls Hydro Project

Hydro power plant · Boundary County, Idaho

Nameplate capacity
38 MW
Rank in Idaho
#39
of 155 plants
In service since
1989
December 1989

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
Smith Creek Hydro, LLC
County
Boundary County
Generating units
3
Share of state capacity
0.58%
Rank among hydro plants in Idaho
#14 of 76
EIA plant code
54249

Generating units

Individual generating units at Smith Falls Hydro Project
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
GEN1Conventional Hydroelectric18 MW9.0 MW1990Operating
GEN2Conventional Hydroelectric18 MW9.0 MW1990Operating
GEN3Conventional Hydroelectric2.1 MW2.1 MW1989Operating

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

High MesaWind40 MW
ID SolarSolar40 MW
GraceHydro33 MW
OneidaHydro30 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 38 MW solar plant and a 38 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