Iron Gate

Hydro power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 41.933, -122.4368.

HydroCaliforniaUnited States of America

Iron Gate is a 18 MW hydro power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by PacifiCorp. Based on reported annual generation of 101 GWh, it can supply roughly 28,971 homes. It ranks #3938 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1962, it is around 64 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).

18MW installed capacity
101GWh reported / yr
28,971homes powered
1962commissioned (~64 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000297.

Reported generation trend

2013: 85 GWh20132014: 86 GWh20142015: 82 GWh20152016: 101 GWh20162017: 109 GWh20172018: 89 GWh20182019: 101 GWh2019109 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by PacifiCorp. 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 41.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

11.0°Cannual mean temp
2,766heating degree-days (base 18°C)
213cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
876 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 2 °CJF: 4 °CFM: 6 °CMA: 9 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 17 °CJJ: 21 °CJA: 22 °CAS: 18 °CSO: 12 °CON: 5 °CND: 2 °CD22 °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 #497 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 41.933, -122.4368 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.