Gem State Plant

Gem State Plant – Planning for the Future

Construction on the fifth city-owned hydroelectric plant began in 1985. The powerhouse uses a vertical Kaplan turbine, as opposed to bulb turbines used at the city's other plants. To save money, the city purchased five used radial gates for the dam from the Army Corps of Engineers for $1 and had them refurbished. The Gem State Plant started generating electricity in October of 1988 and is the largest of the city-owned plants..

Gem State Numbers:
100,000 cubic yard dam
49 feet high
900 feet long
4 miles of earthen dikes
22.4 megawatts of generation

Like previous Idaho Falls leaders, Mayor Thomas Campbell believed Idaho Falls needed more generation capacity to improve the city's energy independence. His efforts resulted in voters passing a $48 million bond in 1984 to pay for construction of the Gem State facility. The bond passed with 77% approval. Bonds were paid off in 2014.