Project Overview

SMUD’s Upper American River Project (UARP), consisting of 11 reservoirs and eight powerhouses, generates enough electricity to meet about 20 percent of SMUD’s customer demand. In a normal water year, the UARP provides roughly 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity – enough energy to power about 180,000 homes. This abundant energy resource firmly establishes the UARP as an important component of the SMUD-owned generation that serves the needs of the 1.2 million residents of SMUD’s service territory. Other sources of SMUD-owned generation power include natural gas-fired cogeneration, solar and wind energy. The primary value of the UARP to SMUD lies in the project’s ability to provide operational flexibility, system reliability and economical power generation. The value of the UARP also extends beyond the boundaries of SMUD’s service territory by helping to maintain the integrity of the Northern California electric transmission system.

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