# McNary

BPA asset profile · https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/mcnary

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

McNary Dam is a conventional hydroelectric plant in Umatilla County, Oregon, with 850.5 MW of nameplate capacity across the twelve generating units EIA-860 lists as operating, commissioned between 1953 and 1957. The dam is a 1.4-mile concrete gravity, run-of-the-river structure on the Columbia River that joins Umatilla County, Oregon, with Benton County, Washington, about 292 river miles above the river's mouth. It is a federal project owned by the United States and run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Walla Walla District, which also operates the adjoining 86-foot by 683-foot navigation lock and two fish ladders, one on each shore, for salmon and steelhead passage. The Corps' own project fact sheet describes the powerhouse's full fourteen-unit installation as a 980-megawatt total capacity, a figure larger than the sum of the units EIA-860 records as generators, likely because two of the fourteen units serve as station-service turbines that power the dam itself rather than sell into the grid. As a run-of-river, non-FERC-licensed federal dam, McNary has no license expiration and no whole-plant or unit retirement scheduled. The project also provides black-start capability, meaning it can restart other generation on the regional grid after a large-scale outage.

## Metrics

- **Nameplate capacity:** 850.5 MW — Canonical EIA plant baseline.
- **Registry anchor:** Plant 3084 — plant-3084

## 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 — Owner and operating agency ([source](https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/locations/district-locks-and-dams/mcnary-lock-and-dam))
- **Financier / power marketer:** Bonneville Power Administration — Power marketer and turbine-modernization funding partner ([source](https://www.bpa.gov/))
- **EPC contractor / equipment supplier:** Alstom Renewable US LLC — Turbine modernization contractor
- **Equipment supplier:** General Electric Company — Generator manufacturer for units 1–12
- **Equipment supplier:** English Electric Company — Generator manufacturer for units 13–14

## Sources

- [sam.gov](https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/91ee834c9100c0def9de6f2a26dc051a/view) — sam.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [usace.contentdm.oclc.org](https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p16021coll6/id/2105/download) — usace.contentdm.oclc.org · public_source — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [water.usace.army.mil](https://water.usace.army.mil/cda/documents/wc/2672/REDACTED_McNary_Water_Contol_Manual_1989_complete_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/McNary-Governor-Mechanical-System-Rehab.pdf) — bpa.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [bpa.gov](https://www.bpa.gov/-/media/Aep/finance/asset-management/public-materials-project-synopsis/fc-quarterly-project-status-report-package-fy2025-q4-public-report.pdf) — bpa.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [dvidshub.net](https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1021920/modernization-efforts-underway-mcnary-lock-and-dam) — dvidshub.net · public_source — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [nwd.usace.army.mil](https://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Stories/Article/3334377/a-step-towards-navigable-waters-a-history-of-mcnary-lock-and-dam/) — nwd.usace.army.mil · public_source — Source retained for exact-record publication review.

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Canonical page: https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/mcnary
Website: [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers](https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/locations/district-locks-and-dams/mcnary-lock-and-dam)

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