# Columbia Generating Station

BPA asset profile · https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/columbia-generating-station

Energy Northwest - Benton County - BPAT

Columbia Generating Station is a 1,200 MW nuclear boiling-water reactor in Benton County, Washington. The plant is owned and operated by Energy Northwest, a Washington state not-for-profit joint operating agency, and sits on the federal Hanford Site about 10 miles north of Richland. Its NRC operating license was renewed for 20 years in 2012 and is now set to expire in December 2043. Under a net-billing agreement, all of Columbia's electricity is sold at cost to the Bonneville Power Administration, which is why the plant settles in the BPA balancing authority rather than a competitive ISO market. The single-unit reactor entered commercial operation in December 1984 and remains the only completed nuclear plant of the five once planned by BPA and the former Washington Public Power Supply System.

## Metrics

- **Nameplate capacity:** 1200 MW — Canonical EIA plant baseline.
- **Registry anchor:** Plant 371 — plant-371

## Facts

- **Technology:** Nuclear
- **Operator:** Energy Northwest

## Related parties

- **Owner / operator:** Energy Northwest — Owner and operator ([source](https://www.energy-northwest.com/))
- **Offtaker / power marketer:** Bonneville Power Administration — Power marketer and offtaker ([source](https://www.bpa.gov/energy-and-services/power/columbia-generating-station))
- **Land lessor:** U.S. Department of Energy — Land lessor ([source](https://www.energy.gov/))

## Sources

- [efsec.wa.gov](https://efsec.wa.gov/facilities/columbia-generating-station) — efsec.wa.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [efsec.wa.gov](https://efsec.wa.gov/facilities/columbia-generating-station/application-review?fid=112&tid=136) — efsec.wa.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [efsec.wa.gov](https://efsec.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/19991201_293.pdf) — efsec.wa.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [efsec.wa.gov](https://efsec.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/WA0025151_CGS_Fact_Sheet_2023.pdf) — efsec.wa.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [bpa.gov](https://www.bpa.gov/energy-and-services/power/columbia-generating-station) — bpa.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [energy-northwest.com](https://www.energy-northwest.com/energy-projects/columbia-generating-station) — energy-northwest.com · public_source — Source retained for exact-record publication review.

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Canonical page: https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/columbia-generating-station
Website: [Energy Northwest](https://www.energy-northwest.com/)

Source: Ask the Grid — https://askthegrid.com/