 The project is one of several on the North Fork and its tributaries, forming a hydroelectric system so extensive it has been dubbed the "Stairway of Power".The project was conceived in the early 1900s under the Great Western Power Company to provide hydroelectricity and water storage for irrigation in the Sacramento Valley.In 1908, the Big Bend or Las Plumas powerhouse was completed on the North Fork southeast of Paradise, generating 40 MW (later uprated to 70 MW) of hydroelectricity, which was sent as far away as Oakland, away.