The Seneca Pumped Storage Generating Station is a

hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

using

pumped storage Pumping may refer to: * The operation of a pump, for moving a liquid from one location to another **The use of a breast pump A breast pump is a mechanical device that Lactation, lactating women use to milking, extract milk from their breasts. They ...

of water to generate

electric power Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a electric circuit, circuit. Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power (physics), power, defined as one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with oth ...

. It is located near

Warren Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in Warren County. Seneca Station is colocated with the

Kinzua Dam The Kinzua Dam, on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It is located within the Allegheny National Forest. The dam is located east of Warren, Penns ...

, near

Warren, Pennsylvania Warren is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Allegheny River. The population was 9,404 at the 2020 census. It is home to the headquarters of the Allegheny National Forest and the Cornp ...

. The dam was built by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

to regulate the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

as part of a larger

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

project, and, as a secondary role, to generate

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

. It created the

Allegheny Reservoir The Allegheny Reservoir (also known as Kinzua Lake and unofficially as Lake Perfidy) is a reservoir along the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York, USA. It was created in 1965 by the construction of the Kinzua Dam along ...

, a lake that stretches upriver, nearly to

Salamanca, New York Salamanca ( Seneca: ''Onë'dagö:h'') is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, inside the Allegany Indian Reservation, one of two governed by the Seneca Nation of New York. The population was 5,929 at the 2020 census. It was n ...

within the

Allegany Reservation Allegany Reservation () is a Seneca Nation of Indians reservation in Cattaraugus County, New York, U.S. In the 2000 census, 58 percent of the population within the reservation boundaries were Native Americans. Some 42% were European Americans; the ...

of the

Seneca Nation of New York The Seneca Nation of Indians is a federally recognized Seneca tribe based in western New York. They are one of three federally recognized Seneca entities in the United States, the others being the Tonawanda Band of Seneca (also in western New ...

. The station generates on average approximately 570,000 megawatt hours of electric energy every year. It has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for its operators since opening in 1970. The power plant, rated at 451 MW, was built by the

Pennsylvania Electric Company FirstEnergy Corp. is an electric utility headquartered in Akron, Ohio. It was established when Ohio Edison merged with Centerior Energy in 1997. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in distributing, transmitting, and generating electrici ...

and

Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company FirstEnergy Corp. is an electric utility headquartered in Akron, Ohio. It was established when Ohio Edison merged with Centerior Energy in 1997. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in distributing, transmitting, and generating electrici ...

. It began commercial operation in 1970. Through business mergers and acquisitions, the plant became owned by

FirstEnergy FirstEnergy Corp. is an electric utility headquartered in Akron, Ohio. It was established when Ohio Edison merged with Centerior Energy in 1997. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in distributing, transmitting, and generating electrici ...

, an operator of several

base load The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants or dispatchable generation, depending on which approach has the best m ...

(

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

and coal-fired) power plants. Seneca was among 11 hydroelectric power stations that FirstEnergy agreed in 2013 to sell to LS Power of New York City. Pumped storage plants function similarly to a

storage battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or prim ...

; they absorb excess power generated by such plants in off-peak hours, such as nighttime, using it to pump water into a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

. Later, when demand exceeds the base load, the flow of water from the reservoir generates additional electrical power to meet

peak load Peak demand on an electrical grid is the highest electrical power demand that has occurred over a specified time period (Gönen 2008). Peak demand is typically characterized as annual, daily or seasonal and has the unit of power. Peak demand, pe ...

demands. Like all storage schemes the facility is a net consumer of electricity due to losses in the cycle.

References

{{stack, {{Portal, Pennsylvania, Water, Renewable energy Energy infrastructure completed in 1970 Hydroelectric power plants in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Warren County, Pennsylvania Allegheny River FirstEnergy Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in the United States