Eco Power

The Lake Hodges Eco Power project consists of the 1.25 mile pipeline tunnel connecting Lake Hodges and Olivenhain Reservoirs, a pump station, an electrical switchyard, an inlet-outlet structure under the surface of Lake Hodges, and modifications to the pump station to enable hydroelectricity generation.  The pump station facility is built mostly underground near the shore of Lake Hodges and has an equivalent vertical drop of a 10-story office building.

Hydroelectric power is generated from Olivenhain Reservoir through the pump turbines as water flows approximately 770 feet downhill into Lake Hodges.  Power is generated during daylight hours when electricity demand is highest, and water is pumped back into Olivenhain Reservoir during off-peak hours when energy costs less.

When water is transferred downhill from Olivenhain Reservoir into Hodges Reservoir, it generates up to 40-megawatts of peak hydroelectric power, enough to power nearly 26,000 homes annually.