Bucks Creek

Hydro power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 39.9106, -121.3277.

HydroCaliforniaUnited States of America

Bucks Creek is a 66 MW hydro power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Co.. Based on reported annual generation of 160 GWh, it can supply roughly 45,800 homes. It ranks #2444 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1928, it is around 98 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 5.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

66MW installed capacity
160GWh reported / yr
45,800homes powered
1928commissioned (~98 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000220.

Reported generation trend

2013: 138 GWh20132014: 70 GWh20142015: 79 GWh20152016: 260 GWh20162017: 266 GWh20172018: 131 GWh20182019: 160 GWh2019266 GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Co.. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 39.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

10.6°Cannual mean temp
2,776heating degree-days (base 18°C)
74cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,241 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 4 °CJF: 4 °CFM: 5 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 12 °CMJ: 16 °CJJ: 19 °CJA: 19 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 12 °CON: 6 °CND: 4 °CD19 °C

Heating degree-days here run 13% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 56/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #257 largest hydro power plant of 1449 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 1449 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 101,657 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 39.9106, -121.3277 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.