Wow! Hydro Power
The man-made lakes in Oconee County, SC were created in the 1970’s in a partnership between Duke Power and the state of South Carolina for the purpose of generating hydroelectricity.
Three lakes were engineered so that water from one would flow down to another: Lake Jocassee could release water into Lake Keowee and Lake Keowee could release water into Lake Hartwell.
The overall goal of Oconee’s lake system is to keep Lake Keowee at full pond, which is necessary to cool the towers at the Oconee Nuclear Station (located in Seneca, SC).
According to Duke Energy, “Oconee Nuclear Station is one of the nation’s largest nuclear plants with a generating capacity of approximately 2.6 million kilowatts. This is enough electricity to power 1.9 million homes.”
Bad Creek Hydro Station
Known as “The Marvel in the Mountain”, Duke Energy’s Bad Creek Hydro Station began operating in 1991. It was built near the Whitewater River inside a mountain bordering Lake Jocassee. Part of the station can be seen by boat and you can drive up fairly close to the facility. But don’t be fooled…this place is extremely well guarded with hidden cameras and hi-tech means, so no funny business.
Above the Bad Creek Hydro Station there’s a 367-acre Bad Creek Reservoir that serves as an enormous battery. The plant produces energy when its cloudy and stores energy when it’s sunny. During low energy demand, the facility pumps water up to the Bad Creek Reservoir for storage. When demand for power is high, water is released back down to the pump turbines that generate energy and then the water is returned into Lake Jocassee. When the level of Lake Keowee gets low, water from Lake Jocassee can be released to bring it back to full pond. If Lake Keowee gets too full, water is released into Lake Hartwell.
Thank you. Great informative article
Thank you Don. I’m glad you liked the article!
Does Duke Energy provide public tours through the Hydro Station?
What is the name of the movie filmed there… was never a big hit ( like Deliverance).
Sharon, that’s an interesting question! I asked google and here’s what I found on the website https://bestthingssc.com/movies-filmed-here/:
Chill Factor (1999)
Cuba Gooding Jr and Skeet Ulrich made appearances in upstate South Carolina to film “Chill Factor,” a 1999 action flick centering on preventing a biochemical weapon from falling into the wrong hands. The diner scenes were filmed in the quiet town of Liberty, while some of the more action packed scenes took place at Bad Creek Hydroelectric Station just north of Salem.
How does the water get back up to the reservoir from Jocassee? Is it the same way it gets released back down?
Hi Keith, the simple answer is yes it is pulled back up like it goes down. But obviously it’s more complicated than that. Bad Creek Hydro Station is the 1st recyclable energy resource. Water is pumped from the Bad Creek reservoir into Lake Jocassee. Lake Jocassee feeds into Lake Keowee and Lake Keowee feeds into Lake Hartwell. The main goal with our lake system is to make sure Lake Keowee stays full enough to cool the nuclear towers at Duke Energy. It is vital that Lake Keowee doesn’t drop less than 8 feet below “full pond”. When necessary, water is… Read more »
Greetings From Norway i have some pics from during the construction, theese where taken by a former worker at Brøyt that learned new operators too operate theese machines
i have some more
last one