The generating station is located on Shippingport Island at the site of the McAlpine Dam and locks along the Ohio River in Kentucky.

[3] The station was built after a canal and dam within the Ohio river in an attempt to allow boats to navigate the 8 ft vertical drop among the falls that spanned 2 miles wide.

It was not until a repair on the dam was needed that Louisville engineers had the idea of building a hydroelectric station to harvest the power of the falls.

[4] At first the U.S. Army Corps Engineers had deemed the falls an unsuitable site for a hydroelectric facility due to the inconsistent water levels of the river.

"[1] As part of the remodeling, a computer model was created to determine the optimal size and shape of the turbines to ensure maximum productivity from the plant.

The average electricity usage for an American is 10,715 kWh per year,[5] inserting the capacity of 101 MW into the following calculation: (((101000000MW/1000)kW*(24hours*365days))/10715kW),[6] finds that the station is capable of providing power for 82,572 residents.