Blue Mesa — Gunnison, CO — Operational Power Plant
Total Capacity
86.4 MW
Technology
Hydro
2 generators
First Unit Online
September 1, 1967
Blue Mesa is a hydro power plant in Gunnison County, CO with 2 generating units totaling 86.4 MW of nameplate capacity. It is operated by U S Bureau of Reclamation. Its first unit came online in 1967.
About this plant
Blue Mesa Dam is a 390-foot-tall (120 m) zoned earthfill dam on the Gunnison River in Colorado. It creates Blue Mesa Reservoir, and is within Curecanti National Recreation Area just before the river enters the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The dam is upstream of the Morrow Point Dam. Blue Mesa Dam and reservoir are part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project, which retains the waters of the Colorado River and its tributaries for agricultural and municipal use in the American Southwest. Although the dam does produce hydroelectric power, its primary purpose is water storage. State Highway 92 passes over the top of the dam. Blue Mesa Dam houses two turbine generators and produces an average of 264,329,000 kilowatt-hours each year.
Source: Wikipedia
Capacity rank
- #213 in the U.S. by capacity
- #5 in CO by capacity
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Monthly generation history
Source: EIA Form 923
Generators (2)
2 generators
2 operational generators totaling 86.4 MW · online 1967
Plant Information
| Plant ID | 512 |
| Plant Name | Blue Mesa |
| Operator | U S Bureau of Reclamation |
| Sector | Electric Utility |
| Balancing Authority | WACM |
| Power Market | |
| County | Gunnison |
| State | Colorado (all interconnection requests in Colorado) |
| Status | Operational |
| Generation Type(s) | Hydro |
| Total Nameplate Capacity (MW) | 86.4 |
| Total Summer Capacity (MW) | 86.4 |
| Total Winter Capacity (MW) | 86.4 |
| Generating Units | 2 |
| Operational Units | 2 |
| Planned Units | 0 |
U.S. county map showing Gunnison, CO
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