Don Pedro

Hydro power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 37.696, -120.4202.

HydroCaliforniaUnited States of America

Don Pedro is a 171 MW hydro power station in California, United States of America. It is operated by Turlock Irrigation District. Based on reported annual generation of 359 GWh, it can supply roughly 102,657 homes. It ranks #1402 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1974, it is around 52 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).

171MW installed capacity
359GWh reported / yr
102,657homes powered
1974commissioned (~52 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000439.

Reported generation trend

2013: 250 GWh20132014: 156 GWh20142015: 145 GWh20152016: 224 GWh20162017: 563 GWh20172018: 294 GWh20182019: 359 GWh2019563 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Turlock Irrigation District. 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 hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

16.7°Cannual mean temp
1,338heating degree-days (base 18°C)
870cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
130 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 8 °CJF: 10 °CFM: 12 °CMA: 15 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 23 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 26 °CAS: 23 °CSO: 18 °CON: 12 °CND: 8 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 46% below 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: 31/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 #109 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 37.696, -120.4202 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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