Lake Lure

Hydro power plant · Rutherford County, North Carolina

Nameplate capacity
3.6 MW
Rank in North Carolina
#690
of 930 plants
In service since
1927
January 1927

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
Lake Lure Town of
County
Rutherford County
Generating units
2
Share of state capacity
0.01%
Rank among hydro plants in North Carolina
#29 of 38
EIA plant code
2773

Generating units

Individual generating units at Lake Lure
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
2Conventional Hydroelectric2.4 MW2.4 MW1927Operating
1Conventional Hydroelectric1.2 MW1.2 MW1927Operating

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 North Carolina

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 3.6 MW solar plant and a 3.6 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 North Carolina power plants · What North Carolina actually generates