Cushaw

Hydro power plant · Amherst County, Virginia

Nameplate capacity
7.5 MW
Rank in Virginia
#169
of 261 plants
In service since
1930
January 1930

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
Cushaw Hydro LLC
County
Amherst County
Generating units
5
Share of state capacity
0.02%
Rank among hydro plants in Virginia
#11 of 24
EIA plant code
3798

Generating units

Individual generating units at Cushaw
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
1Conventional Hydroelectric1.5 MW0.4 MW1930Operating
2Conventional Hydroelectric1.5 MW0.4 MW1930Operating
3Conventional Hydroelectric1.5 MW0.4 MW1930Operating
4Conventional Hydroelectric1.5 MW0.4 MW1930Operating
5Conventional Hydroelectric1.5 MW0.4 MW1930Operating

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 Virginia

Buck HydroHydro8.4 MW
Georgia-Pacific Big IslandNatural gas7.9 MW
Electric Avenue FacilityOther6.9 MW
Richmond EnergyOther6.4 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 7.5 MW solar plant and a 7.5 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 Virginia power plants · What Virginia actually generates