Penacook Lower Falls
Hydro power plant · Merrimack County, New Hampshire
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Briar-Hydro Associates
- County
- Merrimack County
- Generating units
- 1
- Share of state capacity
- 0.10%
- Rank among hydro plants in New Hampshire
- #10 of 31
- EIA plant code
- 50353
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 4.6 MW | 4.6 MW | 1983 | 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 New Hampshire
| Dodge Falls Associates | Hydro | 5.0 MW |
| Hampton Facility | Natural gas | 5.0 MW |
| Rolfe Canal Hydro | Hydro | 4.3 MW |
| Gregg Falls | Hydro | 3.5 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 4.6 MW solar plant and a 4.6 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 New Hampshire power plants · What New Hampshire actually generates