Oxford Dam

Hydro power plant in North Carolina, United States of America. Approximate location 35.8214, -81.1922.

HydroNorth CarolinaUnited States of America

Oxford Dam is a 36 MW hydro power plant in North Carolina, United States of America. It is operated by Duke Energy Carolinas LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 131 GWh, it can supply roughly 37,485 homes. It ranks #3120 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).

36MW installed capacity
131GWh reported / yr
37,485homes powered
1928commissioned (~98 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0002729.

Reported generation trend

2013: 141 GWh20132014: 107 GWh20142015: 94 GWh20152016: 75 GWh20162017: 59 GWh20172018: 108 GWh20182019: 131 GWh2019141 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Duke Energy Carolinas LLC. 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 35.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

14.4°Cannual mean temp
1,961heating degree-days (base 18°C)
655cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
281 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 3 °CJF: 5 °CFM: 10 °CMA: 14 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 23 °CJJ: 25 °CJA: 24 °CAS: 21 °CSO: 15 °CON: 9 °CND: 5 °CD25 °C

Heating degree-days here run 20% 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: 42/100 — 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 #369 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 35.8214, -81.1922 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.