History

The Nacoochee Hydroelectric Plant is located on the Tallulah River between Burton Dam and the head of Lake Rabun. It was designated and built to use the 60-foot fall in the Tallulah River between Burton Dam and the backwater from Mathis Dam.

Completed and placed into operation in late 1926, the Nacoochee Plant was the last development constructed by the Georgia Railway and Power Company. Installation of generating units at Burton Dam took place after the completion of Nacoochee in 1927, after the Georgia Railway and Power Company was consolidated with several other electric utilities in the state to form the modern-day Georgia Power Company.

The Nacoochee plant was conceived by Charles G. Adsit, one of the first six persons in the U.S. bestowed with the title of "Fellow" by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.

The Nacoochee development includes a powerhouse, located on the river's southwestern bank, which contains two 2,400-kilowatt generating units. These give the plant a total generating capacity of 4,800 kilowatts. The facility's gravity concrete dam is 75 feet high and 490 feet long, and impounds Lake Seed.

With the exception of Burton, all of the North Georgia Hydro Group plants bear Cherokee Indian names. In that language, "Nacoochee" means "evening star."