French Meadows — United States of America

French Meadows is a 15.3 MW hydro power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by Placer County Water Agency. Based on reported annual generation of 85 GWh, it can supply roughly 24k homes. It ranks #5106 of 10,884 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1966, it is around 60 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).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000424.

Data provenance

Source of the capacity and fuel values:

capacity: Wikidata P2109; fuel: WRI GPPD

In context: how this plant compares

At 15.3 MW, French Meadows is well above the median hydro plant in United States of America (8 MW). Hydropower converts the energy of falling or flowing water into electricity; output depends on rainfall and reservoir level, and large dams also provide grid balancing and storage.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

Key facts

Load factor

63%, from 85 GWh of reported generation; the median for 1342 hydro plants in United States of America that report generation is 42%

Generation trend

27 GWh in 2013 and 85 GWh in 2019 (+214%)

Highest and lowest year

2017: 106 GWh; 2015: 9 GWh

Share of United States of America hydro capacity

less than 0.1% of 102,513 MW across 1,449 plants in this dataset

Age among peers

804 of 1,444 dated hydro plants in United States of America are older

Calculated from the capacity and generation records in this dataset (WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0)).

Reported generation trend

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

Owner

Operated by Placer County Water Agency.

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 39.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Monthly mean temperature

Heating degree-days here run 85% 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: 91/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

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.

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #532 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 102,513 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Loon Lake · Hydro · 74.1 MW · California
• Middle Fork · Hydro · 122.4 MW · California
• Robbs Peak · Hydro · 25.5 MW · California
• Union Valley · Hydro · 38.6 MW · California
• Jones Fork · Hydro · 10 MW · California
• Ralston · Hydro · 79.2 MW · California

Location

Coordinates 39.078, -120.4061 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions