Columbia Generating Station — Plant Summary
- EIA Plant ID
- 371
- Capacity
- 1200 MW
- Primary Fuel
- Nuclear
- Technology
- Nuclear
- Status
- Operating
- Location
- Benton, WA
- Operating Since
- 1984
- Generators
- 1
- Operator
- Energy Northwest
- Parent Company
- —
- Annual Generation
- 7,751,431 MWh
- Capacity Factor
- 73.7%
- Balancing Authority
- Bonneville Power Administration
- ISO/RTO
- —
- NERC Region
- WECC
Columbia Generating Station
OperatingNuclear
Ranked #1 of 1 Nuclear plants in WA#42 of 57 nationally
1200 MW Nuclear operating in Benton, WA — Bonneville Power Administration
EIAGEMWD
1,200 MW
Nameplate Capacity
1
Generators
unit
Nuclear
Technology
1984
Operating Since
Location
Coordinates
46.4711, -119.3339
County
Benton, WA
Nearby Plants
- Potholes East Canal 66.0Hydro2.3 MW · 12.0 km
- Eltopia Branch Canal 4.6Hydro2.2 MW · 12.0 km
- Horn Rapids Solar, Storage and TrainingBESS4.2 MW · 12.7 km
Ownership & Operator
| Field | EIA | GEM | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Energy Northwest | Energy Northwest | Energy Northwest |
| Owner(s) | Energy Northwest | Energy Northwest [100%] | — |
| Status | Operating | operating | — |
Ownership Chain
GEM identifies the owner as Energy Northwest [100%]
This entity is not yet in the GEM ownership database — chain unavailable.
About
Columbia Generating Station is a nuclear commercial energy facility located on the Hanford Site, 10 miles (16 km) north of Richland, Washington. It is owned and operated by Energy Northwest, a Washington state, not-for-profit joint operating agency. Licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1983, Columbia first produced electricity in May 1984, and entered commercial operation in December 1984.
Read more on WikipediaColumbia Generating Station is a 1200 MW nuclear power plant located in Benton County, Washington. It began operating in 1984 and is owned and operated by Energy Northwest. The plant is the only nuclear power plant in the state of Washington, ranking it 1 of 1, and nationally it ranks 40 of 55 among nuclear plants. It has a single nuclear generator.
The plant's latest annual generation was 7,751,431 MWh, achieving a capacity factor of 73.7%. Columbia Generating Station operates within the Bonneville Power Administration balancing authority and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) NERC region.
Generated from EIA, GEM, and public data sources
Engineering & Generators
Grid Context
NERC Region
WECC
Balancing Authority
Bonneville Power Administration
Grid Voltage
500 kV
Regulatory Status
RE
Entity Type
State
Sector
Electric Utility
Generation
842.8K MWh
Latest Month
7.8M MWh
Annual Generation
73.7%
Capacity Factor
Jan 2023 – Dec 2025
Financial Data
No financial data available for this plant.
Pricing & Market Data
This plant is outside organized wholesale electricity markets (ISOs/RTOs). Nodal pricing data is not available.
News & Articles (10)Beta
Grid·outage
Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant back online. What happened?
The Pacific Northwest's only commercial nuclear power plant was reconnected to the electric grid Tuesday afternoon and by 8 a.m. Wednesday...
Columbia Generating Station (operator)
Tri-City Herald·3 weeks ago
Grid·outage
Northwest’s only nuclear power plant shut down after problem detected
The Northwest's only commercial nuclear power plant, the Columbia Generating Station, was manually shut down early Thursday morning due to a...
Columbia Generating Station (operator)
The Seattle Times·4 weeks ago
General
Energy Northwest’s nuclear plant in unplanned shutdown
Columbia Generating Station was shut down early in the morning of Feb. 12 after operators found issues with the pumps circulating water...
Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business·4 weeks ago
General
Columbia Generating Station to come back online this week
The Columbia Generating Station — the Northwest's only nuclear power plant — is scheduled to come back online this week.
NWPB·4 weeks ago
Last updated 2026-03-14
View all 10 articles