Jackson Hydroelectric Project Powerhouse

The Henry M. Jackson Hydroelectric Project, or Jackson Hydro Project, is an electric power generating project on the Sultan River operated and maintained by the Snohomish County Public Utility District in Washington, co-licensed by the city of

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

. Beginning operations in 1984, the project aims to bring clean and renewable

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...

to Snohomish county. The facility consists of a single powerhouse, two main generating units, a switch-yard, and transmission lines—all of which are directly connected to the county's local 115 kV power-transmission network. The largest generating station operated by the Snohomish county PUD, the Jackson Hydro powerhouse has a total nameplate capacity of 112

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

, enough to power 53,200 homes, and accounts for 7 percent of the Snohomish county PUD's total power needs. The vast remainder of the Snohomish county PUD's power comes from the Chief Joseph Dam, located in eastern Washington, through long-term contracts with the

Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to con ...

Construction

The Jackson Hydroelectric Project was constructed in two phases, the first of which was completed in 1965 with the construction of the

Culmback Dam The Culmback Dam (also known as the George Culmback Dam or the Snoqualmie National Forest Dam) is a large rockfill hydroelectric and water supply dam on the Sultan River, a tributary of the Skykomish River, in Washington. Built in 1965, the dam ...

, creating Spada lake—the water supply for the Jackson Hydro Project. The second phase was completed in 1984, when the Culmback dam was raised an additional 62 feet, quadrupling the water capacity of Spada lake. The Spada lake reservoir currently covers 1,870 acres, with a maximum normal elevation of 1,450 feet. The majority of Spada lake's shores are accessible through hike-in access only.

References

{{Coord, 47, 54, 30, N, 121, 48, 52, W, region:US-WA, display=title Dams in Washington (state) Hydroelectric power plants in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Snohomish County, Washington

Construction

See also

References