![image from pumped storage exhibit](https://clui-files.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/presentation_small/public/2023-03/haiwassee%20dam%20cu.jpeg?itok=aWuy3O0v)
The Hiwassee Dam, in western North Carolina, was built for flood control on the Hiwassee River in the 1930s by the TVA, and forms a rambling 6,000 acre lake. In the 1950s, the TVA installed a reversible pump-turbine in the existing hydro plant at the dam to test the viability of pumped storage at this scale. The pump-generating unit was capable of producing nearly 60 megawatts, many times larger than previous types. It continues to function, along with additional traditional one-way turbines at the plant, together producing as much as 185 megawatts.