Power projects

Western's hydropower resources are produced at Federal dams in 11 states.

Boulder Canyon: Straddling the Colorado River near the Arizona-Nevada border, Hoover Dam in Boulder Canyon creates Lake Mead. River waters turning turbines at Hoover Powerplant produce about 2,074 MW--enough electricity for nearly 8 million people. Western markets this power to public utilities in Arizona, California and Nevada over 53.30 circuit-miles of transmission line.

Central Arizona: Authorized in 1968, the Central Arizona Project in Arizona and western New Mexico was built to improve water resources in the Colorado River Basin. Segments of the authorization allowed for Federal participation in the Navajo Generating Station. The Federal share of the powerplant's combined capacity is 547 MW. 

Central Valley: In California's Central Valley, 18 dams create reservoirs that can store 13 million acre-feet of water. The project's 615 miles of canals irrigate an area 400 miles long and 45 miles wide--almost one third of California. Powerplants at the dams have an installed capacity of 2,099 megawatts and provide enough energy for 650,000 people. Transmission lines total about 865 circuit-miles.

Falcon-Amistad: This project consists of two dams on the Rio Grande River between Texas and Mexico. The United States and Mexico share and operate separate powerplants on each side of the Rio Grande River. The State Department's International Boundary and Water Commission operates the U.S. portion of the projects. The combined capacity of the powerplants is evenly divided between the two nations, providing Western with 98 MW of hydropower to market to two south Texas cooperatives over Central Power and Light Company's transmission system.

Loveland Area Projects: The Loveland Area Projects include the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project and the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program--Western Division. The projects' marketing and rate-setting functions were integrated in 1990. The projects serve Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming with 830 MW of installed capacity and 3,360 miles of transmission line.

Parker-Davis: The Parker-Davis Project resulted from the consolidation of two projects on the Colorado River. Parker Dam created Lake Havasu 155 miles below Hoover Dam. Davis Dam is 67 miles below Hoover Dam. The combined capacity of the powerplants at the dams is 309 MW. The project includes 1,537 circuit-miles of high-voltage transmission lines in Arizona, southern Nevada and along the Colorado River in California.

Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin--Eastern Division: Authorized by Congress in 1944, the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program provides flood control, irrigation, navigation, recreation, preservation and enhancement of fish and wildlife and power generation on the Missouri River. Seven dams and powerplants have the installed capacity of 2,610 MW. That hydroelectric power is delivered across about 7,919 circuit-miles of Federal transmission line.

Provo River: Authorized in 1935, the Provo River Project includes Deer Creek Dam and Powerplant on the Provo River in Utah. Its maximum operating capacity is 5 MW. Customers pay all operating, maintenance and replacement expenses of the project each year, and receive all of the energy it produces.

Salt Lake City Area/Integrated Projects: Power from the Colorado River Storage Project plants was combined with generation from the Collbran and Rio Grande projects into the Salt Lake City Area/Integrated Projects on Oct. 1, 1987. It is marketed under the Post-1989 General Power Marketing and Allocation Criteria. The combined installed capacity of the 11 powerplants that comprise the project is 1,819 MW. More than 2,322 circuit-miles of transmission line serve project customers.

Washoe: This project in west-central Nevada and east-central California was designed to improve the regulation of runoff from the Truckee and Carson river systems and to provide supplemental irrigation water and drainage, as well as water for municipal, industrial and fishery use. The project's Stampede Powerplant has a maximum capacity of 4 MW.