The Shoshone Falls Power Plant was completed in 1907 by the Greater Shoshone and Twin Falls Water Power Company. A low head diversion dam (the Shoshone Falls Dam) was built directly upstream of the falls and diverted water into a penstock, further reducing the amount of water flowing over the falls. The plant initially had a capacity of 500 kilowatts (KW). The plant was purchased by Idaho Power in 1916. Over the years the power plant was expanded and ultimately replaced with newer units capable of generating 12,500 KW. Currently about are required to run the plant at full capacity. In 2015 Idaho Power released a plan to increase the capacity to 64,000 KW, which would increase the water diversions and consequently effect even greater reductions of the water available to flow over the falls.