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Hells Canyon

Hydro power plant · Wallowa County, Oregon

Nameplate capacity
411 MW
Rank in Oregon
#12
of 301 plants
In service since
1967
October 1967

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
Idaho Power Co
County
Wallowa County
Generating units
3
Share of state capacity
2.14%
Rank among hydro plants in Oregon
#5 of 63
EIA plant code
3013

Generating units

Individual generating units at Hells Canyon
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
3Conventional Hydroelectric150 MW145 MW1967Operating
1Conventional Hydroelectric131 MW151 MW1967Operating
2Conventional Hydroelectric131 MW157 MW1967Operating

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 Oregon

Port WestwardNatural gas483 MW
Biglow Canyon Wind FarmWind450 MW
Round ButteHydro373 MW
Klondike Windpower IIIWind298 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 411 MW solar plant and a 411 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 Oregon power plants · What Oregon actually generates