Nantahala
Hydro power plant · Macon County, North Carolina
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC
- County
- Macon County
- Generating units
- 1
- Share of state capacity
- 0.11%
- Rank among hydro plants in North Carolina
- #12 of 38
- EIA plant code
- 2747
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 43 MW | 45 MW | 1942 | 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 North Carolina
| Eden Solar LLC | Solar | 48 MW |
| Santeetlah | Hydro | 45 MW |
| Tuckertown Hydro | Hydro | 42 MW |
| Elm City Solar Facility | Solar | 40 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 43 MW solar plant and a 43 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