Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Projects in the USA
There are 41 utility-scale hydroelectric plants currently online in the USA that have reversible pump/turbines, and qualify as part of a pumped storage project. Some of them are on rivers with multiple dams, allowing water to be pumped back upstream for water supply control, as well as hydroelectric storage. 25 or so of these plants pump water to an upper reservoir that is “off-stream,” meaning not part of a river system, but an isolated reservoir specially built for the pumped storage project. This number is bit fluid, though, as some of these projects are part of an engineered water system that has created new rivers in the form of aqueducts, and reservoirs that have multiple functions, like in California’s State Water Project.
Major Pumped Storage Sites in the USA with off-Stream Upper Reservoirs
In descending order of generating capacity:
Bath County, Virginia
Ludington, Michigan
Raccoon Mountain, Tennessee
Castaic, California
Helms, California
Blenheim-Gilboa, New York
Rocky Mountain, Georgia
Northfield Mountain, Massachusetts
Muddy Run, Pennsylvania
Bad Creek, South Carolina
Bear Swamp, Massachusetts
Yards Creek, New Jersey
Seneca, Pennsylvania
Taum Sauk, Missouri
San Luis Reservoir, California
John Keys, Washington
Cabin Creek, Colorado
Salina, Oklahoma
Lewiston, New York
Mount Elbert, Colorado
Balsam Meadow, California
Other Pumped Storage Projects in the USA
Not “off-stream” (both reservoirs on rivers), and/or small power outputs:
DeGray, Arkansas
Mormon Flat, Arizona
Horse Mesa, Arizona
New Waddell, Arizona
Oroville, California
Thermalito, California
O’Neill Forebay, California
Lake Hodges, California
Senator Wash, California
Flatiron, Colorado
Rocky River, Connecticut
Richard B. Russel Dam, Georgia
Wallace Dam, Georgia
Carters Dam, Georgia
Harry Truman Dam, Missouri
Clarence Cannon Dam, Missouri
Hiwassee Dam, North Carolina
Lake Jocassee, South Carolina
Fairfield, South Carolina
Smith Mountain Dam, Virginia