Snettisham

Hydro power plant in Alaska, United States of America. Approximate location 58.1415, -133.737.

HydroAlaskaUnited States of America

Snettisham is a 78 MW hydro power plant in Alaska, United States of America. It is operated by Alaska Electric Light&Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 239 GWh, it can supply roughly 68,200 homes. It ranks #2267 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1980, it is around 46 years old — long-established. 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).

78MW installed capacity
239GWh reported / yr
68,200homes powered
1980commissioned (~46 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000078.

Reported generation trend

2013: 259 GWh20132014: 286 GWh20142015: 278 GWh20152016: 273 GWh20162017: 302 GWh20172018: 260 GWh20182019: 239 GWh2019302 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Alaska Electric Light&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 subarctic (boreal) climate (Köppen Dfc) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 58.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

1.6°Cannual mean temp
5,984heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
655 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -7 °CJF: -5 °CFM: -4 °CMA: 1 °CAM: 5 °CMJ: 8 °CJJ: 10 °CJA: 10 °CAS: 7 °CSO: 2 °CON: -3 °CND: -5 °CD10 °C

Heating degree-days here run 143% 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: 98/100 — 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 #225 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 58.1415, -133.737 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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