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Big Bend Dam

Hydro power plant · Buffalo County, South Dakota

Nameplate capacity

538 MW

Rank in South Dakota

of 54 plants

In service since

1964

September 1964

Details

Primary fuel: Hydro
Technology: Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator: USACE-Omaha
County: Buffalo County
Generating units: 8
Share of state capacity: 7.02%
Rank among hydro plants in South Dakota: #2 of 4
EIA plant code: 3375

Generating units

Individual generating units at Big Bend Dam
Unit	Technology	Nameplate	Summer	Online	Status
1	Conventional Hydroelectric	67 MW	65 MW	1964	Operating
2	Conventional Hydroelectric	67 MW	65 MW	1964	Operating
4	Conventional Hydroelectric	67 MW	65 MW	1965	Operating
5	Conventional Hydroelectric	67 MW	65 MW	1965	Operating
6	Conventional Hydroelectric	67 MW	65 MW	1965	Operating
7	Conventional Hydroelectric	67 MW	65 MW	1966	Operating
8	Conventional Hydroelectric	67 MW	65 MW	1966	Operating
3	Conventional Hydroelectric	67 MW	65 MW	1965	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 Dakota

Oahe	Hydro	786 MW
Big Stone	Coal	451 MW
Angus Anson	Natural gas	406 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 538 MW solar plant and a 538 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 Dakota power plants · What South Dakota actually generates