Next week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will celebrate National Hydropower Day, Aug. 24, 2026. For more than 140 years, the Corps’ Hydropower Program has been providing the nation with ready, reliable, and resilient energy. The Corps of Engineers is the largest owner and operator of hydroelectric power plants in the United States, generating more than 25% of the nation’s hydropower and ranking among the nation’s top 10 power producers overall. The Savannah District Operations Division operates and maintains civil works projects throughout Georgia and South Carolina for the purpose of navigation, flood damage reduction, environmental stewardship, and recreation. The Lakes and Hydropower Branches manage the three hydropower dams on the Upper Savannah River: Hartwell, Richard B. Russell, and J. Strom Thurmond Lake. Of the three hydropower dams on the Savannah River, Russell Dam is actually the largest power plant east of the Mississippi River and has the unique ability to pump water from Thurmond Lake back into Russell Lake. That ability allows the Corps to better manage limited water during droughts, and also allows them to pass the same water through the turbines multiple times to generate electricity when demand is highest (and more valuable) during the day and then use less expensive electricity to pump the water back uphill during the night. On National Hydropower Day, the Trump Administration celebrates the amazing clean energy that powers our great nation’s…
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