Southeast Missouri / Lead Belt / Mississippi Corridor
Taum Sauk is a pumped-storage hydro plant in the county
The Taum Sauk pumped-storage plant is a major piece of energy infrastructure tied to the county's rivers and ridges, with a notable history worth understanding accurately.
Part of the Taum Sauk power plant sits in Reynolds County. It is a “pumped-storage” plant, which means it stores energy using water. When power is cheap, it pumps water up to a reservoir (a man-made lake) on top of a mountain. When people need a lot of power, it lets that water rush back down through machines called turbines to make electricity. It is one of the larger energy sites in the area. It is part of the Black River drainage and sits among the rocky hills of the St. Francois Mountains. In 2005, the upper reservoir broke. The flood rushed down the mountain and damaged the state park below. The plant was later rebuilt. This history is well recorded, so trust official accounts, not rumors. For most people the plant is just part of the view. To learn how it works today, check with state energy regulators, DNR, and the plant’s operator.
References
Where this fits: this note belongs to Reynolds County. See every local note for the county on its page.