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Value to the Nation: Hydropower

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the largest owner-operator of hydroelectric power plants in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The 75 USACE plants have a total installed capacity of nearly 22,000 megawatts and produce over 72 billion kilowatt-hours a year. This is approximately 25% of the nation’s total hydropower output.

Hydropower offers numerous advantages over alternative fuels. It is:

  • Renewable. The earth provides a continual supply of water from rainfall and snowmelt.
  • Efficient. Hydropower plants convert about 90 percent of the energy in falling water into electricity.
  • Clean. Hydropower plants do not emit waste heat and gases.
  • Reliable. Hydropower machinery is relatively simple, which makes it reliable and durable.
  • Flexible. Units can start quickly and adjust rapidly to changes in electricity demand.

photo of a hydroelectric generating unit

353 hydroelectric generating units

photo of a hydroelectric plant

Produce more than 70B kwh of electricity

Photograph of a dam

25% of U.S. hydroelectric power

USACE hydropower plants play a key role in the economy by offering an affordable power source, which helps keep overall energy prices down. USACE hydropower plants are also better for the environment than other sources of electrical power because they don't use fossil fuels. Without hydropower, the U.S. would have to burn much more coal, oil, and natural gas every year. The increasing availability of hydropower also helps reduce America's dependence on other nations for fuel.

USACE collaborates on its hydropower efforts with the Department of Energy and a variety of other federal, regional and state agencies and private companies. USACE is in the process of upgrading many of its facilities to increase efficiency and reliability. Due to its significant advantages over other energy sources, hydropower will continue to play an important role in meeting the nation's energy needs in the years to come.

More Information

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 Benefits in Perspective

The primary National Economic Development (NED) benefit of USACE hydropower efforts is the willingness to pay for hydropower output from USACE projects. For existing USACE hydropower capital stock, an estimate of replacement in kind is the most likely and most economical alternative. Accordingly, the replacement value of energy produced by USACE hydropower facilities is used as proxy for the willingness to pay for hydropower output from USACE projects. Energy replacement values illustrate the cost of energy from alternative generating resources used to replace lost hydropower generation from outages.

 Economic Impact

The greatest benefit from the USACE hydropower program is the abundant low-cost energy the projects contribute to electric power grids. Because hydroelectric powerplants burn no fuel, operating costs are low and are immune to rising fossil fuel prices. In addition, most of these projects were built years ago, when construction costs were low. As a result, these plants are playing a significant role in keeping electricity costs affordable for consumers, creating a positive impact on the economy. Read more…

 How It Works

Water moves constantly through a vast global cycle. The energy of this water cycle, which is driven by the sun, is tapped most efficiently with hydropower. Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity. Read more…

 Environmental Benefit

Hydropower is better for the environment than other major sources of electrical power, which use fossil fuels. Hydropower plants do not emit the waste heat and gases—common with fossil-fuel driven facilities—which are major contributors to air pollution, global warming and acid rain. The mining and drilling required to acquire fossil fuels for other power sources also have a significant negative environmental impact. Read more…

 Activities

USACE currently owns and operates 75 hydropower plants nationwide, which generate over 72 billion kilowatt-hours of power per year. USACE hydropower plants account for approximately 3 percent of the nation's total electrical capacity. USACE's largest hydropower plants are located in the Pacific Northwest, but there also are important projects in Midwest, South Central and South Atlantic states. As concerns about the nation's limited energy resources grow, USACE is working to increase hydropower output, efficiency, and reliability by upgrading and modernizing its facilities.

 How these numbers were calculated


A 2015 USACE Hydropower Analysis Center study, Quantifying the Cost of Unit Outages Across the USACE Hydropower Facilities, developed an approach to simulate 15 years of historic average daily flow and reservoir elevations into hourly flow distributions by matching historical flows to current plant operations and turbine efficiencies. This study generated values for the energy produced from the USACE hydropower capital stock. The energy values are based on regional locational marginal prices (LMP) collected from a plant’s most relevant energy market. The NED benefits accruing to USACE hydropower investments are computed by summing the average energy replacement values from each USACE project with generating capability. Values were adjusted for inflation in order to convert estimates to 2021 dollars. The FY 2021 NED hydropower benefit estimate is $2.82 billion.

Sources of Data

USACE Hydropower Analysis Center, 2015. Quantifying the Cost of Unit Outages across the USACE Hydropower Facilities.

  • FY 2021 Fast Facts  
    • USACE Hydropower Analysis Center (2015). Quantifying the Cost of Unit Outages across the USACE Hydropower Facilities.
    • Values were adjusted for inflation in order to convert estimates to 2021 dollars 
  • FY 2020 Fast Facts    
    • USACE Hydropower Analysis Center (2015). Quantifying the Cost of Unit Outages across the USACE Hydropower Facilities.
    • Values were adjusted for inflation in order to convert estimates to 2020 dollars.
  • FY 2019 Fast Facts    
    • USACE Hydropower Analysis Center (2015). Quantifying the Cost of Unit Outages across the USACE Hydropower Facilities.
    • Values were adjusted for inflation in order to convert estimates to 2019 dollars.
  • FY 2018 Fast Facts    
    • USACE Hydropower Analysis Center (2015). Quantifying the Cost of Unit Outages across the USACE Hydropower Facilities.
    • Values were adjusted for inflation in order to convert estimates to 2018 dollars.
  • FY 2017 Fast Facts    
    • USACE Hydropower Analysis Center (2015). Quantifying the Cost of Unit Outages across the USACE Hydropower Facilities.
    • Values were adjusted for inflation in order to convert estimates to 2017 dollars.

Hydropower Fast Facts Reports

Hydropower Fast Facts Reports can be selected by national, project, state, USACE Division, or USACE District level. Select 2022 Hydropower Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

Hydropower Fast Facts Archive

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 2021 Hydropower Fast Facts


Select 2021 Hydropower Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.

 2020 Hydropower Fast Facts


Select 2020 Hydropower Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.

 2019 Hydropower Fast Facts


Select 2019 Hydropower Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.

 2018 Hydropower Fast Facts


Select 2018 Hydropower Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.

 2017 Hydropower Fast Facts


Select 2017 Hydropower Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.

 2016 Hydropower Fast Facts


Select 2016 Hydropower Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.