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J Strom Thurmond

Hydro power plant · McCormick County, South Carolina

Nameplate capacity

362 MW

Rank in South Carolina

#20

of 214 plants

In service since

1953

January 1953

Details

Primary fuel: Hydro
Technology: Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator: USCE-Savannah District
County: McCormick County
Generating units: 7
Share of state capacity: 1.33%
Rank among hydro plants in South Carolina: #4 of 32
EIA plant code: 3323

Generating units

Individual generating units at J Strom Thurmond
Unit	Technology	Nameplate	Summer	Online	Status
1	Conventional Hydroelectric	52 MW	48 MW	1953	Operating
2	Conventional Hydroelectric	52 MW	48 MW	1953	Operating
3	Conventional Hydroelectric	52 MW	48 MW	1953	Operating
4	Conventional Hydroelectric	52 MW	48 MW	1953	Operating
5	Conventional Hydroelectric	52 MW	48 MW	1954	Operating
6	Conventional Hydroelectric	52 MW	48 MW	1954	Operating
7	Conventional Hydroelectric	52 MW	48 MW	1954	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 South Carolina

Fairfield Pumped Storage	Hydro	587 MW
Cope	Natural gas	417 MW
Darlington County	Natural gas	316 MW
McMeekin	Natural gas	294 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 362 MW solar plant and a 362 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 South Carolina power plants · What South Carolina actually generates