# Lower Granite

BPA asset profile · https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/lower-granite

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District - Whitman County - BPAT

Lower Granite Dam is a conventional hydroelectric facility on the Snake River in Whitman County, Washington, with five operating turbine-generator units totaling 675 MW of nameplate capacity. It is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and, as reported in EIA-860, sits on the BPAT balancing authority, consistent with the plant's own price nodes near Lewiston/Pomeroy, WA. The dam is <cite index="10-1">part of the Columbia River Basin system of dams, built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with power generated distributed by the Bonneville Power Administration</cite>. <cite index="11-4">Authorized under the 1945 Rivers and Harbors Act and completed in 1975, Lower Granite Lock and Dam was the last of four Corps dams built on the lower Snake River</cite>, and USACE rates its <cite index="11-2">six-turbine powerhouse as able to generate up to 810 megawatts of hydroelectricity</cite>, though in practice <cite index="18-11">the turbines rarely all run at the same time or at maximum capacity due to recent regulations to protect salmon</cite>. Lower Granite is one of four Lower Snake River dams that has been the subject of a long-running removal debate; in December 2023 <cite index="4-8">the Biden administration announced its support for preparing to breach the four Lower Snake River Dams through an agreement with four tribal nations, two states and several conservation groups</cite>, but <cite index="4-2">actually breaching them would require an act of Congress</cite>, so the dam continues to operate today with no unit retired and no scheduled plant closure.

## Metrics

- **Nameplate capacity:** 675 MW — Canonical EIA plant baseline.
- **Registry anchor:** Plant 6175 — plant-6175

## Facts

- **Technology:** Conventional Hydroelectric
- **Operator:** U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District

## Related parties

- **Owner / operator:** U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District — Federal owner and project operator ([source](https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/Locations/District-Locks-and-Dams/Lower-Granite-Lock-and-Dam))

## Sources

- [api.eia.gov](https://api.eia.gov/v2/electricity/operating-generator-capacity/data?api_key=DEMO_KEY&data%5B0%5D=nameplate-capacity-mw&data%5B1%5D=net-summer-capacity-mw&facets%5Bplantid%5D%5B%5D=6175&frequency=monthly&start=2026-07&end=2026-07&length=100) — api.eia.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [water.usace.army.mil](https://water.usace.army.mil/cda/documents/wc/2671/REDACTED%201987%20LGR%20WCM%20rev2010_APPLIED.pdf) — water.usace.army.mil · public_source — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [bpa.gov](https://www.bpa.gov/-/media/Aep/finance/asset-management/public-materials-project-synopsis/2023-q2-project-synopses/Lower-Granite-MU2-Blade-Sleeve-Upgrade.pdf) — bpa.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [nwd.usace.army.mil](https://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/fact-sheets/article/3485347/lower-granite-dam-and-lake-lower-granite) — nwd.usace.army.mil · public_source — Source retained for exact-record publication review.

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Canonical page: https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/lower-granite
Website: [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Northwestern Division)](https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/Locations/District-Locks-and-Dams/Lower-Granite-Lock-and-Dam)

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