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Wolf Creek

Hydro power plant · Russell County, Kentucky

Nameplate capacity
270 MW
Rank in Kentucky
#18
of 63 plants
In service since
1951
October 1951

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
USCE-Nashville District
County
Russell County
Generating units
6
Share of state capacity
1.21%
Rank among hydro plants in Kentucky
#1 of 11
EIA plant code
1380

Generating units

Individual generating units at Wolf Creek
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
1Conventional Hydroelectric45 MW52 MW1952Operating
2Conventional Hydroelectric45 MW52 MW1952Operating
3Conventional Hydroelectric45 MW40 MW1952Operating
4Conventional Hydroelectric45 MW52 MW1951Operating
5Conventional Hydroelectric45 MW52 MW1951Operating
6Conventional Hydroelectric45 MW52 MW1951Operating

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 Kentucky

CooperCoal344 MW
Big SandyNatural gas281 MW
Sebree Solar, LLCSolar250 MW
Kentucky DamHydro219 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 270 MW solar plant and a 270 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 Kentucky power plants · What Kentucky actually generates