For more than 100 years, a portion of our community's power supply has come from hydro power. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy.
Electricity is created when water from our mountain reservoirs drops hundreds of feet through a pipe, creating an enormous amount of pressure, to the hydro plant. Movement of the water through a turbine turns a generator to make electricity.
Benefits
- Easy on the environment: Since hydroelectric plants do not burn fossil fuels, they do not release carbon dioxide or other pollutants into the air.
- Operationally efficient: Given the amount of pressure created on its journey downhill, the water would need to be regulated before entering our system. By using it to create hydroelectricity, we achieve two results: clean energy and pressure reduction.
- Hydro power helps meet climate change regulations
Our facilities
There three hydropower plants currently in operation: Manitou (built in 1905), Ruxton (1925) and Tesla (1997). A fourth plant is currently under construction in Cascade. The total amount of energy produced – more than 33 megawatts – can power 23,000 homes.
We also purchase some of our hydro power from the Western Area Power Administration.
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Ruxton Hydro Power Plant |
