August 24, 2020

While Nevada Irrigation District (NID) customers count on the District to deliver water every day, little do they know that what comes out of their tap has already been put to good use producing clean, green, carbon-free power.

In fact, NID generates enough hydroelectricity to power its own operations plus more than 60,000 homes each year.

NID’s Hydropower operations are also a huge win for customers. Revenues from power sales cover all of the costs of upper division water conveyance, delivery, maintenance, and operations from the headwaters of the South Yuba River, Bear River, Canyon Creek, and Deer Creek watersheds through the District’s mid-elevation storage reservoirs of Scotts Flat, Rollins and Combie – 13 reservoirs and 15.6 miles of pipes, flumes, tunnels and open ditch canals. These costs, plus a 2020 contribution of an additional $13 million from hydroelectric revenues and department reserves, have contributed to reducing and offsetting water rates for 25,000 homes, farms, and businesses who are our customers in Nevada, Placer and Yuba Counties.

As the Nation celebrates National Hydropower Day on Aug. 24, NID is especially proud to recognize its highly valued, clean, carbon-free hydropower. A leader among Northern California water agencies in its hydropower production, the District operates seven hydropower plants that generate an average 375 million kilowatt hours of clean, carbon-free energy.

National Hydropower Day celebrates hydropower’s undeniable contributions to America’s clean energy infrastructure, electrical grid resiliency and reliability benefits, and environmental protections.

The United States produces more electricity from hydropower than from any other renewable electricity source – in 2018 hydropower accounted for 39 percent of renewable generation and 7 percent of the nation’s overall electricity generation. The U.S. hydropower fleet is comprised of approximately 2,200 power plants with a total capacity of roughly 102 GW, which includes 95% of U.S. storage capacity (23 GW) pumped storage. Hydropower is also a major job creator, employing 66,500 workers.

National Hydropower Day is sponsored by The National Hydropower Association (NHA), a nonprofit association dedicated exclusively to promoting the growth of clean, renewable hydropower and marine energy