Oxbow (OR)

Hydro power plant in Idaho, United States of America. Approximate location 44.9716, -116.835.

HydroIdahoUnited States of America

Oxbow (OR) is a 190 MW hydro power station in Idaho, United States of America. It is operated by Idaho Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 1,093 GWh, it can supply roughly 312,285 homes. It ranks #1328 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1961, it is around 65 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).

190MW installed capacity
1,093GWh reported / yr
312,285homes powered
1961commissioned (~65 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0003014.

Reported generation trend

2013: 744 GWh20132014: 832 GWh20142015: 750 GWh20152016: 901 GWh20162017: 1,196 GWh20172018: 1,090 GWh20182019: 1,093 GWh20191k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Idaho Power 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 45.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

6.7°Cannual mean temp
4,127heating degree-days (base 18°C)
15cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,338 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -4 °CJF: -2 °CFM: 2 °CMA: 5 °CAM: 10 °CMJ: 14 °CJJ: 18 °CJA: 18 °CAS: 14 °CSO: 8 °CON: 1 °CND: -4 °CD18 °C

Heating degree-days here run 68% 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: 86/100 — this site sits in the top 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 #97 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 44.9716, -116.835 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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