Upper Baker

Hydro power plant in Washington, United States of America. Approximate location 48.649, -121.6907.

HydroWashingtonUnited States of America

Upper Baker is a 105 MW hydro power station in Washington, United States of America. It is operated by Puget Sound Energy Inc. Based on reported annual generation of 263 GWh, it can supply roughly 75,114 homes. It ranks #1864 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1959, it is around 67 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).

105MW installed capacity
263GWh reported / yr
75,114homes powered
1959commissioned (~67 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0003861.

Reported generation trend

2013: 357 GWh20132014: 340 GWh20142015: 279 GWh20152016: 369 GWh20162017: 356 GWh20172018: 334 GWh20182019: 263 GWh2019369 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Puget Sound Energy Inc. 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 temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 48.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

5.7°Cannual mean temp
4,478heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,047 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -2 °CJF: 0 °CFM: 1 °CMA: 4 °CAM: 8 °CMJ: 11 °CJJ: 14 °CJA: 15 °CAS: 12 °CSO: 7 °CON: 1 °CND: -2 °CD15 °C

Heating degree-days here run 82% 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 #176 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 48.649, -121.6907 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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