How big is Smith Mountain?

Smith Mountain has a reported capacity of 547.5 MW. Source: EIA Form 860.

What kind of plant is Smith Mountain?

Smith Mountain is a Conventional Hydroelectric, Hydroelectric Pumped Storage facility in Pittsylvania County, VA, participating in the PJM market.

Where is Smith Mountain located?

Smith Mountain is in Pittsylvania County, VA, inside the PJM balancing area.

Who operates Smith Mountain?

Smith Mountain is operated by Appalachian Power Co according to the EIA generator inventory. Reporting membership does not by itself establish ultimate ownership.

How much electricity does Smith Mountain generate?

Smith Mountain reported -110.1 GWh over the twelve months to 2026-04. Figures are net generation as filed to EIA-923.

Where does Smith Mountain connect to the grid?

Smith Mountain interconnects at Smith Mountain 138 kV Station, on the AEP, through Appalachian Power Company system.

How does Smith Mountain compare to other plants?

By capacity, Smith Mountain ranks #44 of 1,349 operating plants of the same technology nationally. It ranks #1 of 22 in VA.

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Hydroelectric Pumped Storage, Conventional HydroelectricPJM · Pittsylvania County

Smith Mountain

Appalachian Power Company · Pittsylvania County · PJM

Smith Mountain is a battery energy storage facility with 547.5 MW of EIA-reported nameplate capacity in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, registered as EIA Plant ID 3780. Appalachian Power Company owns and operates the plant. The broader Smith Mountain Project is the largest hydroelectric facility on the American Electric Power system. Commercial operation began in December 1965.

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plant:plant-3780

Ask about Smith Mountain

Investigate technology, capacity, output, price behavior, ownership, and related facilities using this profile plus current grid data.

Overview

Key fields

Reported capacity: 547.5 MW
EIA-reported nameplate capacity; other nameplate and seasonal ratings may differ.
Technology: Conventional Hydroelectric, Hydroelectric Pumped Storage
Primary generation technology.
Registry anchor: Plant 3780
Appalachian Power Co · Pittsylvania County · PJM
Operating status: Operating
Smith Mountain is operating.
Grid connection: Smith Mountain 138 kV Station
138 kV · AEP, through Appalachian Power Company
Commercial operation: December 1965
Best-supported operating milestone.

Profile

Grid role: Pumped-storage hydroelectric facility used for storage arbitrage and peak/grid-reliability support: it generally generates when electricity demand is high, pumps water back to the upper reservoir when demand is low, and changes operation in coordination with PJM and system demand.
Grid connection: Smith Mountain 138 kV Station · 138 kV · AEP, through Appalachian Power Company.
Context: The broader Smith Mountain Project is the largest hydroelectric facility on the American Electric Power system. Its pumped-storage configuration uses Smith Mountain Lake as the upper reservoir and Leesville Lake as the lower reservoir to shift generation toward periods of high electricity demand.
Physical build

Structured profile

Reported capacity: 547.5 MW
Conventional Hydroelectric, Hydroelectric Pumped Storage
Commercial operation: December 1965
Operating status: operating
Smith Mountain is operating.
Interconnection: Smith Mountain 138 kV Station
138 kV · AEP, through Appalachian Power Company
Location

Units and generators

Operating generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.

Generator	Capacity	Technology	Operation	Status
1	66 MW 66 MW summer	Hydroelectric Pumped Storage Water · PS	Dec 1965	Operating
2	150.1 MW 174 MW summer	Conventional Hydroelectric Water · HY	Dec 1965	Operating
3	115.3 MW 106 MW summer	Hydroelectric Pumped Storage Water · PS	Jun 1980	Operating
4	150.1 MW 174 MW summer

Performance

Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.

Peer context

Technology capacity: 300.2 MW
National rank: #44
VA rank: #1

Monthly generation

Download CSV

Latest 12 months

-110.1 GWh

Reported net generation

Latest report

Apr 2026

EIA-923 monthly filing

2025 capacity factor

—

Grid and market context

Deterministic links to ERCOT market resources, price records, outage disclosures, queue records, and nearby infrastructure. Candidate joins remain labeled until corroborated.

Nearby substations

HIFLD infrastructure inventory

SMITH MOUNTAIN

IN SERVICE · 138 kV

0.3 km

PENHOOK

Commercial, land, and environmental record

Source-backed project transactions, agreements, land records, permits, and environmental disclosures. Portfolio and adjacent-project facts remain explicitly scoped.

Land and environmental record

Draft Environmental Permit

Draft Virginia Water Protection Individual Permit 24-1547

The draft DEQ permit names Appalachian Power Company as permittee and the Smith Mountain Lake Hydroelectric Project as the facility. The draft shows placeholder effective and expiration dates; no final permit dates are available in cited materials.

Source

Public Landowner

Appalachian Power-owned islands are publicly accessible for recreation

The operator's Island Management Plan addresses Appalachian Power-owned islands, and public recreational use of those islands is permitted, subject to the operator's stated guidance and management provisions.

About Smith Mountain Project

Waste Management Compliance

Mar 31, 2026

FERC Article 411 debris-management compliance and disposal program

The 2025 annual report, filed March 31, 2026, was submitted under FERC License Article 411. Appalachian must remove and properly dispose of reservoir debris from April through October when it creates safety hazards, interferes with public access, or causes adverse aesthetic impacts.

Source

Water Quality Compliance

Draft VWP Permit 24-1547 requires a Dissolved Oxygen Improvement Plan

The draft permit requires a Dissolved Oxygen Improvement Plan within 240 days of issuance and continued study, monitoring, and identification of additional improvement methods below Smith Mountain Dam to address prior feasibility study findings.

Source

Water Use Authorization

VWP Permit 24-1547 authorizes continued hydroelectric and pumped-storage operation

The draft permit authorizes diversion of surface water through two powerhouses, pumping from Leesville Lake to Smith Mountain Lake for generation and storage, and required minimum release to the Roanoke River. Other uses are not authorized.

Source

Related parties and identifiers

Parties, market resources, and identifiers tied to this asset, with owner, operator, developer, EPC, compliance provider, and interconnecting entity roles kept separate.

Parties and identifiers

OrganizationRoleBasis

plant:plant-3780Grid selectionCanonical asset page /assets/facilities/smith-mountain.

Reporting portfolio

EIA reporting entity

Appalachian Power Co

Entity 733

Operating portfolio

16 plants

4 states

Reported capacity

6,863 MW

Conventional Hydroelectric · Conventional Steam Coal · Hydroelectric Pumped Storage

Timeline and sources

Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.

Project timeline

1956
1956
Preliminary PermitSML History...
Appalachian Power filed a preliminary permit with the Federal Power Commission for a planned 60 MW, 200-foot-high dam; later design work expanded the concept into a two-dam, pumped-storage project.
1963
1963

Largest reported plants in this portfolio
Largest reported plants	Capacity	State
John E Amos	2,932.6 MW	WV
Mountaineer	1,300 MW	WV
Dresden Energy Facility	678.3 MW	OH
Smith MountainCurrent	547.5 MW	VA
Ceredo Generating Station	519 MW	WV
Clinch River	475 MW	VA
Top Hat Wind	204 MW	IL
Claytor	74.8 MW	VA

Smith Mountain

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Smith Mountain

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Overview

Key fields

Profile

Structured profile

Units and generators

Performance

Peer context

Monthly generation

Grid and market context

Nearby substations

Commercial, land, and environmental record

Land and environmental record

Related parties and identifiers

Parties and identifiers

Reporting portfolio

Timeline and sources

Project timeline

Sources

Common questions about Smith Mountain

How big is Smith Mountain?

What kind of plant is Smith Mountain?

Where is Smith Mountain located?

Who operates Smith Mountain?

How much electricity does Smith Mountain generate?

Where does Smith Mountain connect to the grid?

How does Smith Mountain compare to other plants?

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