Ross

Hydro power plant in Washington, United States of America. Approximate location 48.7326, -121.0679.

HydroWashingtonUnited States of America

Ross is a 450 MW hydro power station in Washington, United States of America. It is operated by City of Seattle - (WA). Based on reported annual generation of 523 GWh, it can supply roughly 149,314 homes. It ranks #775 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1954, it is around 72 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).

450MW installed capacity
523GWh reported / yr
149,314homes powered
1954commissioned (~72 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0006202.

Reported generation trend

2013: 724 GWh20132014: 794 GWh20142015: 683 GWh20152016: 790 GWh20162017: 740 GWh20172018: 688 GWh20182019: 523 GWh2019794 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by City of Seattle - (WA). 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 subarctic (boreal) climate (Köppen Dfc) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 48.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

2.5°Cannual mean temp
5,633heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,532 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -6 °CJF: -4 °CFM: -2 °CMA: 1 °CAM: 5 °CMJ: 8 °CJJ: 11 °CJA: 12 °CAS: 9 °CSO: 4 °CON: -2 °CND: -6 °CD12 °C

Heating degree-days here run 129% 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: 97/100 — 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 #51 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 48.7326, -121.0679 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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