Yates Dam

Hydro power plant in Alabama, United States of America. Approximate location 32.5743, -85.8901.

HydroAlabamaUnited States of America

Yates Dam is a 50 MW hydro power plant in Alabama, United States of America. It is operated by Alabama Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 156 GWh, it can supply roughly 44,485 homes. It ranks #2710 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).

50MW installed capacity
156GWh reported / yr
44,485homes powered
1928commissioned (~98 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000021.

Reported generation trend

2013: 158 GWh20132014: 138 GWh20142015: 117 GWh20152016: 117 GWh20162017: 126 GWh20172018: 143 GWh20182019: 156 GWh2019158 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Alabama 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 32.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

17.9°Cannual mean temp
1,112heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,084cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
104 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 8 °CJF: 10 °CFM: 14 °CMA: 18 °CAM: 22 °CMJ: 26 °CJJ: 27 °CJA: 27 °CAS: 24 °CSO: 18 °CON: 13 °CND: 9 °CD27 °C

Heating degree-days here run 55% 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: 27/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 #291 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 32.5743, -85.8901 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.