Pelton Dam is a major dam on the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: *Deschutes River (Oregon) The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many ...

Jefferson County, Oregon Jefferson County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,502. The county seat is Madras. The county is named after Mount Jefferson. History Jefferson County was created on December 12, ...

, owned and operated as a hydroelectric facility by

Portland General Electric Portland General Electric (PGE) is a Fortune 1000 public utility based in Portland, Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - 44% of the inhabitants of O ...

, one element of its Pelton Round Butte Project on the Deschutes. The concrete arch dam at Pelton dates from 1958, has a height of from bedrock, a width of at its crest, and generates 110 megawatts of electricity. Upstream, to the south, Pelton Dam impounds the waters of the Deschutes to create the deep Lake Simtustus in a relatively narrow canyon about back to the 1964

Round Butte Dam Round Butte Dam is a rockfill-type hydroelectric dam on the Deschutes River, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in Jefferson County and owned by the power company Portland General Electric, its reservoir is called Lake Billy Chinook. The dam w ...

. The lake has a surface area of about and holds of water. The name "Simtustus" honors a native who scouted for the U.S. Army during the 1867–68 campaign against the

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

s. Downstream, north, a regulating dam controls the river flow. The area between is called the Pelton Regulating Reservoir. In 1982 the

Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is a recognized Native American tribe made of three tribes who put together a confederation. They live on and govern the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon. Tribes The confederat ...

installed a hydroelectric turbine unit in the regulating dam for additional power. Between 2000 and 2005 the CTWS also asserted itself as a stakeholder in the project's re-licensing negotiations between Portland General Electric and the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the United States federal agency that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce and regulates the transportation of oil by pipeline in ...

, winning key environmental, cultural, and water rights concessions.

References

{{authority control Dams in Oregon Reservoirs in Oregon Portland General Electric dams Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Oregon Arch dams Hydroelectric power plants in Oregon Dams completed in 1958 Energy infrastructure completed in 1958 1958 establishments in Oregon Dams on the Deschutes River (Oregon) Lakes of Jefferson County, Oregon