| |
|
|
|
Tacoma Power Utilities Hydro Projects |
|
|
|
Cushman Hydro Project |
One of the first major dams in the Pacific Northwest was Tacoma Power's Cushman Dam No. 1, dedicated in 1926. The dam is on the North Fork of the Skokomish River near Hood Canal. It is 275 feet high and 1,111 feet long.
Just downstream, Cushman Dam No. 2 was completed in 1930, forming the small 150-acre Kokanee Lake. This dam measures 235 feet above bedrock and is 575 feet in length. |
|
| Cushman No. 1 |
|
| Cushman No. 2 |
|
Nisqually River Project |
Tacoma Power began generating electricity from the water of the Nisqually River nearly 100 years ago. The original diversion dam, completed in 1912, was replaced in 1945 with Alder Dam and LaGrande Dam. The Nisqually River Project is Tacoma Power's second-largest hydroelectric resource, generating enough power to serve nearly 43,000 Northwest homes. |
|
| Alder Hydro |
|
| LaGrande Hydro |
|
Cowlitz River Project |
| Tacoma Power's largest electricity generating facility is the Cowlitz River Project. It produces enough hydroelectric energy to serve more than 135,000 Northwest homes. The Cowlitz River Project produces hydroelectric power from the water stored behind Mayfield and Mossyrock dams. Built in 1963, Mayfield Dam forms 13-mile-long Mayfield Lake. Mossyrock Dam, built in 1968, stands 606 feet above bedrock and is the tallest dam in Washington state. The dam forms 23.5-mile-long Riffe Lake. |
|
| Mayfield Hydro |
|
| Mossyrock Hydro |
|
Wynoochee River Project |
|
Tacoma City Light developed the Wynoochee Dam Hydroelectric Project by refitting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Wynoochee River Dam in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains in Grays Harbor County. The dam was built in 1972 to provide flood control, industrial water storage for the City of Aberdeen, water for irrigation and to support the river's fishery. The Wynoochee powerhouse was built in 1993 and began generating electricity in 1994. The powerhouse contains one 12.8 megawatt Kaplan turbine-generator supplied by Leningrad Metal Works and Electrosila, both of St. Petersburg, Russia and generates approximately 33 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. |
|
| Wynoochee Powerhouse |
|
|
