Hydropower dams: Correlation
Prices it moves with, and why
Large hydropower dams cost mostly concrete, steel, turbines and years of civil works, so build costs, rainfall and finance set their economics. Once built, they run cheaply for decades and earn more where they can store water for peaks.
Proxy US PPI: turbines and turbine generator sets index (BLS base period =100) · monthly, Jun 2011 to Sep 2026There is no free public price for hydropower dams itself, so this tab uses the closest public series as a stand-in. Read the numbers as an indication, not as the price of this exact item.
What its price moves with
Selected linkHydropower dams and Cement
Monthly changes -0.08 little or none correlation 12-month changes 0.14 little or none correlation Last 5 years 0.09 monthly changes Lead or lag +2 mo Cement tends to lead by 2 months (r 0.17) Price function, Jun 2011 to Sep 2026 Hydropower dams ≈ 10.2 × (Cement)0.43 R² 0.83 On this fit, a 10% higher cement price goes with a 4.1% higher hydropower dams price over the long run. Units: index (BLS base period =100) and index, BLS base period.Chart: Hydropower dams and Cement prices rebased to 100 at Jun 2011, log scale
Both prices rebased to 100 at Jun 2011, on a log scale so equal percentage moves look the same size.Chart: Hydropower dams price against Cement price, monthly, log scales, with fitted line
Each dot is one month; paler dots are older (2011), darker dots recent (2026); the ringed dot is the latest month. The dashed line is the fitted price function. Both axes are logarithmic.Dams need huge volumes of concrete, so cement prices drive civil costs. The proxy is a US turbine index, which covers equipment only, so it does not track cement: monthly moves correlate at -0.08.
little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show chartsPenstocks, gates and turbine housings are steel, and reinforced concrete uses rebar. The proxy is a US turbine price index shared by several power technologies, and it does not follow steel monthly (0.05) because equipment is priced on long contracts.
little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show chartsEach turbine drives a large generator, so generator makers supply a major part of dam equipment. The US generator index and turbine proxy move together over a year, with 12-month changes correlating at 0.52, a shared equipment cycle.
little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show chartsDam output depends on river flow, and water is also needed for irrigation and cities. The US water index is a California market price, which reflects local scarcity, not dam costs.
little or none co-movement month to month · 96 months Show chartsConcrete admixtures cut water use and heat in large dam pours, and grouts seal foundations. The US indices share a construction cycle over a year, with 12-month changes correlating at 0.41.
little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show chartsGas plants often fill the gap when dry years cut hydro output, and gas prices set the value of flexible hydro power. The turbine proxy does not follow gas, with monthly moves at -0.05.
little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show chartsHow to read these numbers
Correlation of monthly changes (the number in the coloured pill) compares how much each price moved, month by month, since 2006 or the first month both series exist. It runs from −1 to +1: near +1 the two usually rise and fall in the same months, near 0 there is no link, and a negative number means they tend to move in opposite directions. Above 0.7 is strong, 0.4 to 0.7 moderate, 0.2 to 0.4 weak.
12-month changes compare year-on-year moves, which shows whether two prices share the same cycles even when the month-to-month noise differs.
Price function is a straight-line fit of the two prices on logarithmic scales: price ≈ k × (partner price)β. β is how much this price moves, in per cent, for a 1% move in the partner over the whole period, and R² is the share of the variation the fit explains. Two prices that both drift up with inflation can fit well without any real link, so read it together with the monthly correlation.
Lead or lag checks whether the monthly correlation is clearly higher when one price is shifted by 1 to 6 months.
Correlation is not cause. The reasons on each card explain the economic link; the numbers show how strongly it has shown up in prices. Proxy series are US producer price indexes or related prices and can blur the real link.
Data: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes, IMF primary commodity prices and US EIA prices via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved November 2026. Calculations by this site.