Stairs

Hydro power plant in Utah, United States of America. Approximate location 40.6236, -111.7533.

HydroUtahUnited States of America

Stairs is a 1 MW hydro power plant in Utah, United States of America. It is operated by PacifiCorp. Based on reported annual generation of 6 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,657 homes. It ranks #9718 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1912, it is around 114 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).

1MW installed capacity
6GWh reported / yr
1,657homes powered
1912commissioned (~114 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0003659.

Reported generation trend

2013: 4 GWh20132014: 5 GWh20142015: 4 GWh20152016: 4 GWh20162017: 6 GWh20172018: 4 GWh20182019: 6 GWh20196 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 humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 40.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

5.8°Cannual mean temp
4,453heating degree-days (base 18°C)
6cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
2,324 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -4 °CJF: -3 °CFM: 0 °CMA: 3 °CAM: 8 °CMJ: 13 °CJJ: 18 °CJA: 18 °CAS: 13 °CSO: 7 °CON: 0 °CND: -4 °CD18 °C

Heating degree-days here run 81% 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: 90/100 — 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 #1440 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 40.6236, -111.7533 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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