Roanoke Rapids Power Station

• Located in Roanoke Rapids, NC
• Powers approximately 23,750 homes
• Commercial operations began in 1955.
• The facility is located on Roanoke Rapids lake, which is created by the power station dam.
• The lake is supplied by water from the Roanoke River that is regulated eight miles upstream by Dominion Energy's Gaston Hydro Power Station and Gaston Dam.
• When water is allowed to pass from the lake through the powerhouse, the station's four generators can produce up to 95 megawatts.
• The station can produce as much electric power in one hour as about 10 average homes use in one year.
• It took 245,000 cubic yards of concrete to build the dam—the equivalent of a sidewalk six feet wide and 189 miles long.
• The power house rests atop a rock foundation 70 feet above sea level and rises at its crest to an elevation of 142 feet above sea level.

View Historic Documentation  for Roanoke River & Gaston Dams, Canal & Locks.

Hydropower License